Chapter 45
“Hyeek, h-hic……! E-Everyone! Please, just s-slow down a little!”
Having blindly run through the smelly, dark sewer, Prea seemed to have run out of stamina before she knew it.
“Sorry! But we don't have time!”
Prea had said she wanted to join the Hero's party too, and told me to call her casually.
So I dropped the formalities, but for some reason she kept speaking politely.
Apparently, you only start speaking casually after the wedding.
“Phew, I'm a little tired too! Se-on, can't we rest for just a minute before we go? We've been at this for an hour!”
“Sorry, but we don't have a choice……”
Yubel was in danger even at this very moment.
Besides, the presence I sensed was still far below us.
We couldn't afford even a short break.
“Haaah, hwaaah! Guh—”
“Aah! Prea collapsed! Ugh, her face is so dirty……”
Truly exhausted, Prea couldn't control her trembling legs and fell face-first into the slimy black water.
I hesitated for a moment at the sight, but immediately took off running straight ahead.
“Riella! I'll leave Prea to you! Rest for a bit, then catch up!”
“Whaaat!? W-Wait, go with meee!”
“I'll go on ahead!”
I left Prea in Riella's care and used [Adrenaline] to race ahead at top speed.
I didn't like using skills, but I'd use them whenever I had to for Yubel.
About ten minutes passed like that.
The presence I sensed suddenly shifted.
Right beneath me.
“Damn it, I'll just break through.”
I couldn't waste time looking for stairs leading farther down from here.
Thinking that, I lifted my foot and gathered the purified power within my body.
But I had to aim carefully.
Yubel might get buried under the falling ceiling.
So I moved toward the spot where I sensed the demonic residue below and gathered my power once more.
I didn't know what kind of demon it was, but I assumed it was facing off against Yubel.
-KWA-BOOOOM!
When I stomped down, the shattered floor began to collapse.
The mysterious demon beneath it.
A demon with the appearance of a succubus was buried under the rubble.
It seemed my judgment had been right.
I kept an eye out for any falling debris and looked at Yubel.
And what I saw was—
‘What the hell is that……?’
A horrifying-looking mass of plasma was just about to hit Yubel.
More puzzling was that it looked as if Yubel had fired that plasma at herself.
As if she were trying to kill herself……
No way.
“Yubeeeeel!!”
First, I hugged Yubel to stop that ominous spell.
Yubel let out a cute little “Hyeet” and canceled the spell.
I could finally breathe a little easier.
‘Was she trying to sacrifice herself before the succubus could take her over…….’
Succubi were a race that could take over other people's bodies.
Yubel knew that, so she must have tried to end her life before she could be controlled.
‘Because that's what Yubel would do.’
I couldn't speak for anyone else, but from someone as kind as her, who worried terribly about others, that kind of self-sacrifice made sense.
She'd sacrificed herself to save me more than once before, after all.
But.
‘Something feels a little off.’
I understood that her self-sacrificing nature was innate.
Even so, Yubel was also the kind of person who never gave up until the very end.
Why had she given up on life so easily?
That was a little hard to understand.
Could she have been controlled by the demon—
“Hwaah! Th-Thanks, Se-on♡ You came to save m—”
“Who are you?”
The words slipped out reflexively.
Because I suddenly felt a revulsion that seemed to rise up from my very soul.
This revulsion……
It was like someone had put on Yubel's skin and was pretending to be her.
In a word, it was disgusting.
“S-Se-on? What on earth do you mean—”
“Shut up.”
I pulled away from the ‘thing’ I was holding.
At the same time, I analyzed the revulsion I felt from the ‘thing’ that looked like Yubel.
First of all, Yubel didn't speak in that coquettish voice.
She was so ignorant about sexual acts that the word “innocence” couldn't even begin to describe it.
So she couldn't use a tone that sounded like she was seducing a man.
At least, the Yubel I knew would have shown some kind of awkwardness.
And there was one clue I was most certain of.
The decisive clue this idiot had slipped up on.
And that was—
“Yubel has never once called me by my name. You disgusting demon bastard.”
“……”
The demon possessing Yubel, its identity exposed, lowered its pathetic head, its tail bristling.
And then.
“Heh heh heh……. You really are a disgusting species.”
“……So you've finally revealed your true colors.”
Its manner of speaking had changed.
This was probably the great demon the nun had mentioned.
The root of all evil who had stolen Yubel's body.
“Get out of her body this instant, demon. Before I tear you limb from limb.”
“You think you can do that to me? Heh, what a joke. You know full well you can't do anything to this body. Or do you want to kill this girl?”
“Damn it……”
The demon began fondling Yubel's stomach, breasts, waist, and butt as if they belonged to her.
At that sight, I wanted to charge in and butcher that demon right then and there.
My head throbbed as if it were about to split.
But I couldn't do anything.
Just as she said, the moment I cut down the demon,
Yubel, the body's owner, wouldn't be safe either.
It was a perfect checkmate.
As I clenched my sword and stared at the demon,
the demon's hand began to slowly wrap around Yubel's neck.
“Heh heh, I'm very curious how you'll react if I cut off her air supply like this. Is the carotid artery heree? Or over heeere? Heh heh heh! Goodness, it's so thrilling I could go mad!”
“……”
“Ah, don't make a face like that. It makes me feel bad. Well, don't worry, I have no intention of actually doing it. Because I loooooove this girl♡ Enough to keep her alive even when my own life is at risk. Heh.”
Damn it.
Was there no way to get out of this situation?
The more that thing toyed with Yubel, the more the urge to kill flared up from the depths of my heart.
“Hngh, I'm a little disappointed after all, seeing that envious look in your eyes. Well, you and I are essentially the same, just in slightly different circumstances.”
“What the hell are you talking about, demon?”
“Aren't you just me in a slightly different situation? You love Yubel, but can't reach her. Meanwhile, I love Yubel and have her in my hands, fondling her to my heart's content. Pfft, what a delightful situation.”
“Shut up before I tear that mouth of yours apart.”
“The more strongly you deny it…… Hmm, I'll stop there. For the record, when I said I fondled her to my heart's content, I didn't mean just her body, but her mind as well. Right now, I'm savoring Yubel's sleeping consciousness as much as I please. From head to toe……♡”
“I said shut up!!”
No matter how much I shouted, the demon, wearing Yubel's face,
only wore an irritating smile.
“Heh heh…… Ah, I should thank you. Thanks to the opening you gave me, I was able to erase Yubel's recent memories. Heh, now I can play with her like a toy again.”
What?
“Yubel's memories……?”
When I murmured that,
the demon smiled silently.
‘N-No way.’
The hand gripping my sword began trembling like a leaf.
What an absurd thing to say.
To freely manipulate Yubel's mind, and even erase her memories.
Then, then what am I supposed to……
How can I protect Yubel—
“Hmm, yes. I'll make a proposition you can't refuse, as thanks to you.”
“……?”
“How about you and I compete to see which of us can first make Yubel surrender to love? The condition is that you mustn't tell anyone else my identity.”
“Nonsense. Of course I'll refuse—”
“If you refuse, I'll kill myself.”
“……”
Damn it.
This demon was proposing a contest that could hurt Yubel.
A contest to make Yubel surrender to love, when she was wary of love because of childhood trauma.
It was an utterly evil proposal.
And I couldn't refuse it.
That made me feel even more miserable.
Still.
I had learned one thing from this.
This demon.
Was she really able to manipulate Yubel's mind however she wanted?
If so, why would she need to make this proposal?
“Hey, demon. Why are you making me that offer?”
“Hm? Why would I have to tell you that—”
“You said you can freely manipulate Yubel's mind. Then couldn't you just overturn this whole contest?”
“……That's because of my generous benevolence—”
“Liar. You can't just mess with Yubel's mind however you like. From what I can see, you can only alter her memories to some extent. And even that must come with restrictions. Isn't that right?”
Yubel lost her memories more often than I would have expected.
But her personality and disposition hadn't been twisted to that extent.
In other words, that demon clearly couldn't—or couldn't fully—control Yubel.
That was probably the demon's weakness.
I had to exploit that and find a way to separate the demon from Yubel.
“……”
The demon wearing Yubel's face fell silent for a long time after that.
It was probably because I'd hit the mark.
“Hmm. You can actually use your head. Even though you always go all lovestruck whenever Yubel's around.”
“Fine, I'll accept your offer. Like you said, I can't refuse. But I absolutely won't lose to someone like you.”
That's right.
There's no way I could lose.
My feelings for Yubel were second to none.
“And let me make this clear: I'm not like you. You don't think about Yubel at all. The only feeling behind your claim that you love her is this disgusting, sticky lust. You filthy fake.”
“……Very well. Then I'll return to my consciousness now. You'd better work hard. I'm always right beside Yubel, after all. Heh.”
After an unpleasant laugh,
Yubel's body went limp and collapsed.
I caught Yubel and made a vow in my heart.
That I would save her, no matter what.
***
‘I was flustered by that unexpected opening, but I accomplished my goal.’
The Demon King had never intended to seduce Yubel in the first place.
She simply saw people as toys.
She had hoped the Hero would feel competitive toward her, leading to all sorts of amusing situations with Yubel.
Besides, she realized that when an unexpected situation like this arose, the Hero could stop Yubel.
In other words, this wasn't a bad proposal, if only for her own safety.
At least, that's what the Demon King thought.
Still, what the Hero had said to her at the end bothered her.
‘My love is fake…… He's right, but for some reason I don't like hearing it.’
Crack.
That arrogant tone.
Despite knowing nothing about Yubel, the fact that he thought he was closer to her than the Demon King was extremely irritating.
‘Hero, I'll have to give you a lot of grief from now on.’
The Demon King looked at Yubel, lying quietly on a bed in her inner world.
This adorable little being belonged to the Demon King, so she could do whatever she wanted with her.
With a fluttering heart, she stroked the face of her toy, which looked just like her own.
Very gently, so it wouldn't break like it had this time.
‘Hmph……. You're a toy. You exist only for my amusement. So don't get cocky like you did this time.’
She repeated that to herself.
So she wouldn't develop any other feelings.