CHAPTER 356: RESOLUTION (9)

0% Of course I was well aware that all the Devils were obsessed with me, but even among them, the Gray Devil’s obsession was unrivaled.

After all, all of the Devil-related events, big or small, revolved around this punk.

The Yellow Devil, the Prophet—all of them eventually led me to this punk.

Come to think of it, what she’s doing is a little contradictory.

She wanted to have me all to herself so badly, but she also helped the other punks. I didn’t know what she was up to.

After pondering about it as much as I could, I came to one conclusion.

She’s confident.

In her head, she probably thought that as long as I stayed alive, no matter who I was involved with, in the end, I’d crawl back to her.

That was why...

[Found you.]

For the first time, I could hear her voice clearly.

This proved that I had become ‘closer’ to being a real Devil, and at the same time, it meant that this punk wasn’t playing around this time.

In other words...

This punk was crazy mad at me right now.

Her voice was so cold that snow would probably fall midsummer. It made both the Prophet and I flinch for a moment.

-...

-...

-...!!!!

Then, a Slash came towards us.

Each of Eleanor’s strikes always had a monstrous power that could separate its target’s flesh from their bones, but even among those attacks, this particular one stood out.

It was enough to make me, who was unfazed by most attacks, experienced dying and returned back to life several times, freaked out while avoiding it.

“...Damn.”

The Prophet muttered as if she just got a headache.

Then again, anyone would react the same way after seeing this huge ‘void’ from the passing Slash.

As if that part of the world had been ‘erased’ by that Slash instead of being torn apart so badly that it disappeared.

It was like this world was a programmed world and she had the administrator’s privilege.

“...Could it be that the Void Zone isn’t actually made by the remains of the Devil, but created by this punk?”

“...I can see where you came from.”

As that exchange happened, I stared at Eleanor, who was walking our way with drowsy eyes.

She was still wearing her wedding dress, and her appearance was exactly like my fianceé that I was familiar with, but I could clearly feel that ‘another being’ was moving her body.

Especially the way she trudged here like a marionette being controlled by someone. Also, even though she practically blitzed her way here through the Void Zone, there wasn’t a single wound on her body. It was like something out of a horror movie.

“...What happened to Talker?”

[I killed him.]

“...What about Iliya?”

[I knocked her out for a moment since I knew you’d get angry.]

Seeing her expression after she said that while trying to read my expression amidst all this, I didn’t know whether I should be thankful or sad.

“...Hey, Teach.”

The Prophet, who had been watching her, called out to me with blank eyes.

“Honestly, I was almost convinced when you said you’re going to incapacitate all the Devils, but the biggest hurdle is still here, you know?”

“...”

Yeah, I could see that with my own eyes, thank you very much.

Feeling the cold sweat starting to form on my hands, I took a deep breath.

Meanwhile, Eleanor—no, the Gray Devil, continued to speak.

[I have been waiting only for this moment. Only for this. Very. Moment.]

Ecstasy, joy, demoralization, obsession.

Her voice that contained all those emotions at once permeated in all directions. The malice that seeped in on top of all that echoed through my eardrums.

[For the moment the other thieving cats cannot mark what is ‘mine’ as theirs. The moment you completely become mine.]

“...”

Ah.

The moment I heard that, a wry smile unknowingly formed on my face.

Now I knew why this punk gave the other women a ‘chance’ despite her crazy obsession with me.

My ‘final goal’ was to get rid of the Devils’ ‘threat’ and help them live ‘like a human being’. There was a high chance that she had guessed it early and planned her move in advance.

She made the other women help me ‘establish’ this current state, and now that I achieved it, no one would be able to stand in her way anymore...

As expected of the Final Boss, I guess...

Seeing how she had planned everything to get what she wanted after waiting for so long, that praise was pretty much deserved.

Of course...

Even if that was the case...

“I just have to subdue her.”

“...Can you?”

“If I can’t, then I wouldn’t have started this whole thing to begin with.”

One of the first things I noticed when I came here was that I couldn’t see Eleanor’s appearance on her ‘main body’.

Which meant...

She had expected this outcome from the very beginning, that I’d do something like this.

“...Seriously, Darling, your confidence is something else.”

The Prophet frowned after she said so.

Because Eleanor, who had been walking towards us slowly, suddenly flew over like a ghost and grabbed her neck after hearing what she had said.

“-...U-Uurrk...!”

Within that one strike, one of her arms was ‘erased’. This punk who had always maintained her composure while fighting with me got bodied just like that.

“...!”

Horror filled her face as her body bounced off in a split second. The shorter Holy Sword that her lost arm had been holding also flew onto the ground and stuck on it.

“Seriously...! This monstrous fucker...!”

The Prophet took a deep breath while muttering so, before fiercely raising the other Holy Sword she was holding and pointed it at the Gray Devil.

“If I didn’t block that, I would’ve died back then.”

“...Are you okay?”

“What a good question to ask someone who had just lost one of their arms. But anyway, yeah, I’m okay. For now. That arm was a prosthetic anyway.”

“...”

The fuck? Were you saying that I got rolled by someone with a prosthetic arm?

That was just embarrassing. In a way.

However, before I could even fuss about that, the ear-splitting voice echoed from beside me.

[Could you not...use such a disgusting word...to call what’s ‘mine’?]

“...”

Well, to be fair...

She’s married to me in the future, she could call me that if she wants to.

I thought so while standing beside the Prophet.

Upon seeing me obviously taking this punk’s side, Eleanor frowned.

“Well, to defeat the Devil together with the Hero, what a romantic opportunity! Even you can’t miss that, can you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“...?”

I didn’t know what she was even on about.

Like, I had no thoughts of fighting that punk in the first place.

“...What are you going to do if you’re not going to fight her then?”

“Married couple’s quarrels usually won’t last long. Do you know that?”

“...What are you on about? Do you think this is the time and place for that nonsense?”

The Prophet asked in a flustered voice, but I ignored her. Anyway, it would be meaningless to fight Eleanor now.

Even more so when there was a way to subdue her without fighting her.

“...”

I took a deep breath before walking forward with confident steps.

As I did that, I gathered the remaining Demonic Aura in the Fallen’s Seal into my eyes.

After I did that, I could see Gray’s soul that was attached to Eleanor’s back.

She looked like Eleanor if she grew ‘several years older’, and she seemed to have a similar disposition with the other Vessels’ main bodies that came from the future.

At first glance, that was.

“...”

Because...

There was a little difference in her case.

It was also the fundamental reason why the Gray Devil had been showing a distinctly different pattern of behavior from the other Devils so far.

In short...

The other Devils were able to have proper ‘communication’ with their Vessels, but it wasn’t the case with Gray.

[As expected, I knew that you would definitely come to my side—]

Against the Gray Devil, who said such words after seeing me coming closer to her, as if she had expected that I’d do this...

While staring right into her eyes, I...

“You took my virginity.”

Shoved my ‘final weapon’ at her.

[...]

The Gray Devil’s body froze.

There was a perplexed expression on her face, which was out of character for her.

“...Why the hell are you mentioning that right now?”

“...”

I could hear the Prophet asking that from behind my back, as if she was also dumbfounded by it.

Well...

You see, this might sound weird, but given this situation, this might just work quite effectively.

“...Elaborate.”

“Because a certain someone has been suspicious about it so far, and she’d definitely go out of her mind after hearing the confirmation comes directly from my mouth.”

In fact, as soon as I finished my sentence, as if proving my claim, the Gray Devil’s expression began to distort even harder.

Her frown also grew deeper as she saw Eleanor’s body, which she had been controlling so far, started to move in a way that felt as if she had regained ‘consciousness’ and ‘humanity’ from her previously marionette-like state.

Also, I didn’t know if it was just me, but it felt as if I broke out in a cold sweat.

“...What?”

Then...

The way the Gray Aura that filled Eleanor’s eyes vanished before she continued...

“You did what with who...?”

[...]

Scared the crap out of me even more than when she first showed up here.