Chapter 100: The Demon King's Vessel (2)

“──Yes?”

At my words, Luce stopped talking and his smiling eyes narrowed.

But, that was also for a moment.

“Hahaha! Ahahaha──!!”

He soon burst into laughter, as if he had heard the best joke ever.

“Oh dear, it seems you’ve misunderstood something…”

Then he shook his head lightly and played dumb.

“I just came to warn you that it’s dangerous, you know? It's not like I have some ulterior motive or anything?”

Sure you don't.

At least this time, he was right.

“So, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I came to help you.”

Just as he had tried so hard to drag us to Tiaria until now.

“I thought we had built a good relationship so far…”

Sometimes, he would also play the role of blocking players when they tried to take on a challenge that was completely out of their ‘level’.

“To treat your fated partner so coldly, even I get hurt, you know?”

Because it wouldn't do for them to get a ‘game over’ without permission.

If that happened, his ‘own plan’, which he had been cooking up while avoiding the eyes of the Demon King and the other corps commanders, would all go awry.

It was a kind of ‘safety line’ that the game had set up, with the added setting that Luce would not allow it.

He would just fend them off, saying that it was still dangerous to come here.

‘No, what kind of a game is this? Does it make sense for the enemy's level to suddenly jump like this?’

A piece of evidence that the developers had prepared for the complaining friends, ‘We warned you’.

But, I repeat, tell them to f*ck off.

“Oh, right.”

I'm going to cross that line now.

“I'm not warning you.”

He might have thought that my words then were just a bluff instead of a greeting, but he was wrong.

I was completely serious.

“──It's a sentence.”

That bastard had to be killed here.

Before he became the seed of a greater disaster.

At that moment.

“…….”

At my unwavering attitude, Luce's smiling face, which had been grinning until now, suddenly hardened.

Instead, with narrowed eyes, he asked in a tone of utter disbelief.

“……Are you serious?”

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

It wasn't just Luce who was showing doubt.

“Hey, what are you doing…?”

Ibi, who had approached me, nudged my leg.

“Are you crazy, you crazy bastard…?”

Thus, with her gaze still fixed on Luce in front of her, she whispered in a small voice.

“Didn't you f*cking say, he's a guy who can kill us with a single point of his finger…?!

“I did.”

It probably wasn't much different now.

It wasn't just Ibi who showed a worried reaction.

“…Don’t play with fire.”

Toric also chimed in.

As the only one who had been directly hit by him after losing his temper, he must have felt it more keenly.

“That devil… is dangerous.”

The overwhelming difference in our skills.

Even though his skills had rusted, his instincts had not disappeared.

That's why the hand of the veteran, who had roamed the battlefields since before we were even born, was trembling now.

Yes.

He was frightened.

Stop.

──And it wasn't just my companions who were frightened.

Stop.

From the moment I had shown my full hostility towards Luce, the ‘voice’ in my head had also been desperately warning me.

Your opponent is a corps commander of the Demon King's army.

Even among the demons who revere only strength, he is one of the seven strongest.

I know.

It is not wise to confront him now.

He is not an opponent you can handle.

Likewise, I know well.

Do not ever confront that devil.

Do not ever fight that devil now.

Sorry, but I'm going to fight.

He will kill you.

You will die.

You will surely die.

“…I said I know. I'll handle it myself.”

When I answered a little irritably at the ‘voice’ that was constantly ringing in my head like an alarm, puzzled gazes were focused on me.

“……What was that?”

“No, I was just talking to myself.”

I waved my hand once and told them not to mind.

But, it wasn't that the ‘voice’ was making a fuss.

Rather, it couldn't help but warn me desperately.

Because Luce was── the so-called, ‘true final boss’.

If the story flowed as planned, in the very end, we would be fighting that guy, not the Demon King, in the final boss battle.

By then, he would truly become an existence that we couldn't even touch.

So, I had to end it here.

When… I could still ‘kill’ him, relatively speaking.

Before he took the ‘soul’ that resided within me.

“Do you trust me?”

Normally, Ibi would have probably answered right away, ‘Would I trust you, f*ck?’.

But perhaps because of the situation, instead of such sarcasm.

“……Ha, f*ck.”

She ended up muttering a curse, and answered by drawing her two daggers.

At the same time, Rine also immediately raised the staff she was holding.

Miki, who had made a firm resolve, took a step forward with his shield raised, and Lily, after taking a deep breath, calmed her trembling hands a little and placed them on her prayer book.

“…I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Toric, who had been the most cautious among us, unlike last time, eventually raised his axe with a trembling hand.

“──Hmm.”

Thus, seeing our party, which was showing the most blatant hostility we had ever shown, even Luce showed a slightly flustered expression.

But the time he showed such an emotion was, as expected, not long.

“Very well.”

The guy, who had opened his mouth in a leisurely tone again, instead of his usual bright smile.

“Even a well-behaved child, sometimes needs to be disciplined.”

His demonic eyes, which were blazing with fire, widened.

Just by being looked at by those eyes, it made one flinch and shrink instinctively.

“Whipping is not my preference, but…”

Then.

“This time, it can’t be helped.”

──Snap!

The moment he snapped his fingers.

“──Ugh!?”

Fwoosh!

Simultaneously, 「Hellfire」 exploded in front of the five people, excluding me.

“Kraaak──!”

My companions, who were directly hit by this, were sent flying far away without even a chance to resist.

Thus, the guy, who had literally subdued our party in an instant with a single point of his finger.

“You.”

Had approached me in an instant and grabbed my chin with his hand.

Just as he had when we first met, when he had treated me like a doll, not a person.

“Stay here.”

If this were a game, it would be a situation where the guy, who had no choice but to move before us── who had no choice but to take the ‘first turn’── had disabled our entire party in that first turn, and his turn had come again.

Then, when Luce snapped his fingers once more.

──Hwareureureuk!

A「Hellfire Wall」 rose up as if to surround the two of us, showing his intention not to allow any approach.

Anyway, my fallen companions were still unable to even properly move their bodies.

“Now, are you still of the same mind?”

Luce, with one hand still holding my chin, slowly brought his other hand, and.

“Still──”

──Hwaak!

He forcibly tore off my mask as if to rip it off, and then threw it on the floor.

“Do you think you can kill me?”

As if to show off that your ‘weapon’ doesn't work on me at all.

The devil's two eyes, which were not charmed at all, looked straight into my eyes.

“…!”

Kwaaak, he gradually put more strength into the hand that was holding my chin.

Do not confront this person.

Do not confront this person.

Do not confront this person.

At that, I.

“Yeah.”

Raised one corner of my lips in a grin.

“You will die here…!”

At that, Luce stared at me for a moment, and then.

“…No, you’re not. This isn't it.”

He began to shake his head as if in disappointment.

“To show bravado even in a situation like this, isn't it really no different from a clown…”

Stop.

Stop.

Stop.

Meanwhile, the ‘voice’ in my head continued to appeal to me.

Stop, even now.

Beg for forgiveness, even now.

Retreat.

Withdraw.

That is the only way you can live.

“So, I said it’s noisy…!”

“…Yes?”

“Do you really think, I don't know what kind of trick you're playing…?!

I squeezed out my voice with difficulty, trying to ignore the pressure I felt on my chin.

“Do you really think I don't know that I'm your doll…!?”

“…! Don’t tell me, your memories…?”

“Yeah, that’s it…!”

Luce, for the first time, showed a sign of agitation.

“If you’re going to kill me, kill me quickly…!”

I sneered at Luce.

“After all, you and I, are fated partners who have no choice but to kill each other…!”

Not stopping at a sneer.

『You cowardly bastard, who’s too scared to properly face the Demon King and just plays dirty tricks in secret…!』

I even mocked him through 「Vicious Mockery」.

“──!”

But, unlike the others who had heard my 「Vicious Mockery」 until now, Luce just frowned slightly.

As if he wasn't even affected mentally by something like this.

And in fact, Luce, who had only received a ridiculously small amount of damage compared to his ‘HP’.

“……The balance”

Clicked his tongue as if to suppress his anger.

And

“Has been broken.”

Something happened.

By the time I realized that.

“This one, was a failure.”

My chest, was wide open.

──Puk, and.

As the hand that Luce had extended, pierced my chest.

Drip, drip, I could see blood flowing down Luce's arm.

“Keoheok…!”

My breath, was spewed out along with the blood that had flowed back up my throat.

Thump!

My heart beat.

“This, is mine.”

My heart── which was caught in his hand and pulled out of my body.

Thump! Thump!

Beyond the still burning black flames, I could see the horrified faces of my companions.

I wanted to say something to them, but my voice no longer came out.

Luce, the heart he was holding in his hand,Just like that──

“──Let me take it back.”

Tore it out.

Thus, I lost my heart.

“Should I make the next doll a more docile one… or should I just get rid of its autonomy altogether.”

While listening to Luce's mutter, which no longer mattered to me.

I, who had been released from his hand, fell to the floor.

The floor was wet.

It was probably my blood.

As the flames that had been blocking the way gradually subsided, I could see my companions, who were looking at me with eyes of disbelief and shouting something, but I could no longer hear anything.

The strength drained from my whole body, and my vision also gradually became blurry.

I became sleepy.

My eyes kept closing.

……You have, died.

Thus, I met my death.

--

‘Yubin’ has died.

–

***

When I opened my eyes that had been closed, the first thing I saw was ‘nothing’.

It was a new sensation that I had never felt before.

If I had to express it, it was all pitch-black darkness.

But it didn't, ‘feel’ like darkness.

There was no air.

There was no gravity.

There was no element that could make me feel that I was alive.

Only.

Th-th-th……

This ‘voice’ existed.

When I recognized that voice, I finally began to feel other things.

The altar that I had seen in the ‘first Fragment of Memory’, for example.

The high throne, which stood as if looking down at that altar.

Y-y-you idiot──!!

The one sitting on that throne.

How many times, how many times have I told you!

The owner of the ‘pitch-black obsidian dice’ among the two dice I throw.

That person is dangerous! I told you that you would die!!

The owner of the enraged ‘voice’.

If I say something, you should listen!!

And── the owner of the other ‘soul’ that originally resided in this person called the Champion of the Malevolent Star.

This body is not yours alone!!

You foolish vessel──!!

The ‘Primordial Demon King’.

The being that was the master of that throne.