Chapter 17
The devil resembling Han Seorin crawled out of the black TV screen, whip in hand.
……Wasn’t that supposed to be a C-Rank devil?
Yet for some reason, a notification said its soul had resonated, and it had become a B-Rank devil.
Soon, the moment she glared into Han Seorin’s eyes,
a black aura bloomed around her body, and her eyes began to turn red.
……As if Han Seorin herself were unleashing the devil’s power.
Sensing that the situation was serious, I shouted at Han Seorin.
“Han Seorin, just hold on a little longer! I’ll send another contractor over there!”
“……Another contractor?”
Han Seorin’s gaze wavered at my words.
Her double, who didn’t miss that moment, swung her whip at her.
“……!”
-Crash!
Before the whip could reach her, Han Seorin threw herself down and dodged the attack.
The TV beside her shattered, sending glass shards flying.
……Realizing that even a glancing blow from that whip would be fatal, Han Seorin
forgot the blood running down her arm and boldly tried to counterattack with her own whip.
-Whoosh.
“No……!”
The moment Han Seorin blinked,
her double had somehow appeared right in front of her and began strangling her.
Han Seorin’s feet lifted off the floor, and before long, her face had gone pale.
Her double rummaged at her waist with her other hand and pulled something out.
……It was a military dagger with a razor-sharp blade.
She plunged it toward the wound on Han Seorin’s arm.
-Thrust!
“Aaaaaah……!”
Stabbed in the arm, Han Seorin let go of the whip she was holding.
Her double slammed her onto the floor and snatched up the whip.
“……Lord Asmode. I won. This is my victory.”
Then Han Seorin’s double twisted her lips into a grotesque grin and stared into her eyes.
I had no idea how that thing knew I existed, but……
saving Han Seorin was the priority.
“Han Seorin……! Hurry and run! Staying alive is what matters most!”
“……Ugh!”
-Crack! Crack!
As Han Seorin braced a hand against the floor and tried to get up, her double repeatedly lashed her with the whip, aiming for her joints.
……Han Seorin was covered in blood in an instant.
Her pitch-black eyes grew hazy, gradually losing focus.
[Remaining Survival Time: 34 seconds]
“Han Seoriiiin……!”
“I told you, Lord Asmode! I can control this power! You said it was too much for me to handle?! You were wrong! I can use this power to protect someone, too!”
“Shut up! Don’t go spouting nonsense when you’re just a fake Han Seorin!”
“……A fake? Me? Lord Asmode, what are you talking about?”
Han Seorin’s double kicked her as she lay on the floor.
While Han Seorin trembled and let out a faint groan, her double planted a foot on her head and continued.
“There’s no way someone this weak is the real one. I can’t protect my siblings with power like that! I have to be the real one. I have to!”
“……”
“Lord Asmode, make a contract with me. I can control the devil’s power as much as I want. I’m already a devil, after all. Heh-heh, kahahaha……!”
[Remaining Survival Time: 10 seconds]
“……Han Seorin, are you hesitating because I told you not to use the devil’s power?”
“……”
[Remaining Survival Time: 6 seconds]
“I’m sorry for making you suffer like this. I didn’t want you to end up like me. I was hurt by the devil’s power, too.”
[Remaining Survival Time: 3 seconds]
“……But if that’s what you want, I’ll do everything I can to support you. You have to protect yourself first if you want to protect others, right? So stop this and get up. Use the devil’s power.”
[Remaining Survival Time: 1 second]
“……Lee Minjeong. Now!”
Just as Han Seorin’s remaining survival time dropped to a single second,
green arrows began flying swiftly from the stairs across from them.
They had been fired by Lee Minjeong, who had arrived just in time.
-Thwip!
The arrow struck the shoulder of Han Seorin’s double, who had been looking down at her.
“Aaargh……! You little bastard!”
“……Thank you, Lord Asmode.”
[Remaining Survival Time: No abnormalities]
As Han Seorin’s double staggered and clutched her shoulder, Han Seorin picked up her whip from the floor.
Then she unfurled the whip, stained with dark red blood, and rose to her feet.
-Rooooar……!
An even darker black aura poured from Han Seorin’s body, while her eyes turned a vivid, blood-red.
“I’ll be Lord Asmode’s strength.”
“You wretches dare……! You’re not even fit to stand at my feet, and yet you keep struggling……!”
Han Seorin’s double shifted the whip to her other hand, preparing to target both Han Seorin and Lee Minjeong.
The moment her murderous gaze swept over Han Seorin and Lee Minjeong,
-Slice!
……Han Seorin swung her whip at an imperceptible speed, severing her double’s arm.
The force of her swing was so powerful that thick cracks appeared all around her.
“……That’s impossible.”
Han Seorin’s whip came swinging toward her double’s neck.
-Chop!
The double’s head was cleanly severed, and a stream of black blood spurted out.
The headless body slumped to the floor and stopped moving.
As the black aura surrounding the double’s body faded and her severed red eyes returned to normal,
Han Seorin’s legs seemed to give out, and she sank to the floor, looking up at the cracked ceiling.
[Remaining Survival Time: 8 minutes 52 seconds]
“I did it. I…… defeated a B-Rank devil……”
“Hey, hey! What do you mean, you did it?! Get to a hospital, now! You’ll die if you stay there!”
“……Lord Asmode. My legs won’t move.”
When I shouted at Han Seorin in a panic, she slowly shifted her gaze toward Lee Minjeong.
The moment Lee Minjeong met her red eyes, she recoiled in alarm, then ran over to her.
“A-Are you all right?! Gasp, there’s a dagger in your arm……!”
“……I’m sorry to ask, but could you take me to the hospital? My vision is getting blurry.”
“Of course! I mean, that’s only natural! Come on, get up! I’ll carry you!”
“……I’ll have to take you up on that.”
Lee Minjeong hoisted Han Seorin onto her back and immediately started running toward the hospital as fast as she could.
……I never imagined my contractors would meet like this.
Just as their meeting felt awkward, yet I found myself relieved, as if one problem had been taken care of,
[Special Mission ‘A Fight Against Oneself’ has been cleared!]
[Mission Rewards]
- Han Seorin’s Unique Authority (Whip of Judgment) unlocked
- Obtained a High-Rank Soul
[Han Seorin’s soul erosion rate has risen to 56%!]
*
A little while later, at the hospital in the Devil Hunter Association headquarters.
Han Seorin had been admitted to a private room once again. She looked up at the woman with the short, curly green hair standing beside her and spoke.
“Come to think of it, your name is……”
“Oh, I’m Lee Minjeong. I’m an F-Rank Devil Hunter, and I used to belong to Reconnaissance Division, Section 3.”
“……Lee Minjeong. That’s a pretty name.”
“……Thank you.”
““……””
They exchanged a few words, then fell silent for a long while.
What was this……?
This situation was so awkward it was almost suffocating.
‘Come to think of it, neither of them is very sociable.’
Han Seorin was quiet and introverted, while Lee Minjeong was timid and shy.
Maybe they were both waiting for the other to speak first.
……Just then, Lee Minjeong gathered her courage and spoke up.
“Do you happen to know Featherman……?”
“Pardon?”
“Featherman. The cartoon……”
“Oh, that…… I think I know it. My younger siblings seem to like it.”
“……O-Oh, I see. I really like it, too. A lot. It’s a children’s cartoon, but the hero is so cool.”
“I…… see.”
And silence fell again.
Watching this unfold nearly gave me a stomachache.
“Hey, you two. What are you even doing? You’re both my contractors! You should be talking about that! Why are you suddenly discussing Featherman?!”
“……Ms. Lee Minjeong. That’s what Lord Asmode says.”
“Oh, right. We’re both Lord Asmode’s contractors, aren’t we……?”
As Lee Minjeong fidgeted with her fingers and spoke shyly, Han Seorin cleared her throat and answered.
“……Yes. I know it’s a little late, but thank you for saving my life.”
“N-No, it’s all right! It was only what anyone should have done! Besides, I came here in a hurry because Lord Asmode told me to. Lord Asmode is the one who saved you!”
“Come to think of it, how did you end up making a contract with Lord Asmode? I made one after devils attacked me……”
“Huh? Me too! Wow, what a coincidence! When I was about to die, Lord Asmode spoke to me first!”
“……Don’t you think Lord Asmode is kind, for a devil?”
“Right~?”
As they talked about me, they gradually began to relax around each other.
They talked about how I’d saved their lives and how they’d overcome their trauma thanks to me.
……I felt the corners of my mouth lift with satisfaction.
Just then, Lee Minjeong scratched her cheek, blushed, and spoke hesitantly.
“I wish Lord Asmode could be here with us right now……”
“You’ve never seen Lord Asmode in person, have you?”
“No. Lord Asmode said…… a devil can never descend into the real world.”
“……I see. That’s a shame.”
Why did they want to be with a devil?
Rationally, I thought they were strange, but a part of me still wanted to be by their side.
But I soon shook my head and gave up on the thought.
‘……Forget it. I’m already as good as dead.’
What mattered more than the past was the present, wasn’t it?
Right now, there was something more important I had to do than join their conversation.
[Time Until Bodily Collapse: 19 hours 7 minutes 34 seconds]
I immediately opened the Soul Shop in the status window and scrolled down.
[Low-Rank Contractor Draw Ticket]
[Price: 300 Low-Rank Souls]
[Souls in Possession]
[Low-Rank Souls: 628]
[Mid-Rank Souls: 42]
[High-Rank Souls: 1]
‘I need to find a new contractor, if only to save Han Seorin and Lee Minjeong.’
Having made up my mind, I bought another Low-Rank Contractor Draw Ticket.
……I wondered what kind of contractor I’d meet this time.
I should be used to this by now, but my heart was still pounding with nerves.