Chapter 152: Chapter 116: Blue Devil (2)

༺ Blue Devil (2) ༻

It had been quite a while since I last entered the Image World.

The last time I did this was when I was engulfed in my own Image World due to the Divine Power of that one Virtue.

Considering my Karma, being completely neutral, that world was bleak and desolate without anything in it.

“…”

But, this world I was in had a completely different atmosphere than mine.

Maybe because it wasn’t my Image World, but Riru’s.

‘…How brutal.’

Well, just from looking at the surroundings, it was obvious that this world was hers.

After all, only her mental space could be so… ‘Barren’…

The land was withered, the sky was dyed red and there was a harsh and violent blizzard.

Beneath me was snow so deep that it drew my feet in every time I took a step forward.

It was a cold and painful world.

Now, I wasn’t exactly an expert in psychology, but if I ever heard someone’s mind was associated with such an image, I could tell that there was something wrong with them.

However…

As I looked around a little more, I realized that this wasn’t all there was to it.

I dragged my feet and arrived in front of a ‘flower garden.’

Compared to the snow-covered withered land that filled this space, it was only the size of a handspan, but…

It was still a green land lush with new foliage.  n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Warm, isn’t it?”

Hearing that remark, I turned my head.

On that green land, someone was lying leisurely.

Its voice sounded gentle, completely unfit for the occasion. But precisely because of that, I could immediately tell its owner.

“As someone who’s practically living here, I can say it really is better to have something like this than having all the space filled with coldness. I don’t think you can imagine how comfortable this feels like.”

It was someone who gave off the ‘blue’ impression from their head to toe.

That impression didn’t come from their skin, as it was painted in pale white, but the blue particles that they emitted from all over their body.

They were Riru, not wearing a single stitch of clothing.

To be more precise, they were the Blue Devil, who was taking on her form.

Normally, most Devil’s Fragments would reside in the Mental World of their host, though.

“You don’t seem very surprised? Usually, people would be surprised to see Riru like this.”

The Blue Devil threw such a remark with a light smile.

As she said…

She carried a relaxed and languid atmosphere. The tone of her voice was warm and cozy. Her eyes were drooping as she was lying on the grass, as if she was on a picnic and was about to take a nap.

Considering that the real person always showed a stiff or strong impression, following the stereotype of a ‘Female Warrior,’ this gap in appearance could be described as awkward.

“…I had formed a hypothesis, you see.”

Saying that, I sat down in front of the Blue Devil.

“All the Devil’s Fragments I’ve met had completely different vibe than their ‘original possessor.’”

Compared to Eleanor, who always suppressed her emotions, her Fragments felt innocent and soft, like that of a child.

As for Yuria, who was always trying to be inconspicuous and suppressing her own violent tendencies, her Fragments were stubborn, selfish and violent.

“…I was thinking, maybe the Devil fused with the Vessel is continuously expressing the emotions that the host had been suppressing.”

This meant that these were the parts that Riru had been suppressing, now fused with the Blue Devil’s Fragment.

Indolence. Laziness. Peace.

“…”

And that…

Was a completely different appearance from the ‘Devils’ I knew in the game.

In the game, though there weren’t many chances to face Devils directly, there was no precedence of them ‘interacting’ with their Vessels in this way.

Which meant…

In this world I had transmigrated to…

The existence known as ‘Devils’ might be slightly different from the ‘Final Bosses’ seen in Sera.

They might have similar abilities and characteristics, but they were not filled with ‘evil and malice’ solely for the purpose of destroying the world.

Rather, they felt much more…

‘Human.’

“…That’s a fun hypothesis.’

Instead of responding to my words, the Blue Devil just said as such and let out a slight smile.

‘Well, I can find out about that later.’

Right now, the fact that the Blue Devil’s Fragment had such a tendency greatly influenced the ‘negotiation’ I needed to undertake.

If it had been like the White Devil’s Fragment, who wouldn’t even listen to me and just attacked me, such a calm ‘conversation’ wouldn’t have been possible.

I knew that and in order to meet this being, I had provoked Riru to such an extent.

“You said you have an offer I can’t refuse, right?”

The Blue Devil slightly lifted her body.

“I’m personally curious about what you’ll offer as ‘compensation’.”

“…”

At those words, I took a deep breath to calm my mind.

Even though we were talking calmly right now, the other side was still a Devil.

A being that had entered the realm of transcendence in this world; Someone that could easily erase someone like me with just a flick of a finger.

“I won’t accept anything vague or noncommittal.”

The Blue Devil spoke with a slightly faded smile.

“…This space… Hasn’t been around for long.”

She spoke while touching the grass around with her hand.

“It means that after all this time, Riru, who had been pushing herself forward as if being chased by something, is sincerely touched by the memory of being with someone. Enough to make her value it as something warm and precious.”

I looked towards the being before me, who was smiling broadly as she said this.

“It is probably because of your influence.”

Riru Garda.

Someone whose entire psyche was stained with struggle and violence.

Until not so long ago, she shouldn’t have it this badly.

But, after Kasa had her limbs cut off, all her clan members died, and she was banished to the Empire…

She was stuck in a foreign land far from home, without a single person to trust…

Such experiences must have put her in this state as she pushed herself for a revenge without any certainty of success.

“…”

Even if she was alive, she probably wouldn’t have felt like she was living.

She had no one to trust, as she carried the burden of the young children of her clan and Kasa, and faced a powerful being that she couldn’t even gauge. It would have been a lie if she said she wasn’t afraid.

However…

She pushed all those emotions aside and, from morning till evening, she trained and trained and trained again.

That was all she could do, after all.

Humans were not machines. Living like that would only lead to her breaking down. Riru must have been close to her limits too.

And in the midst of that…

I came to her life.

Someone who understood her, cared for her, helped her achieve her goals, and even told her that he liked her.

“But…”

The Blue Devil continued.

Her expression remained mild, but her eyes and the corners of her mouth showed no sign of the smile she had before.

“I understand that it is for the sake of your goal, but in the end, you still played with her heart like a fiddle.”

“…”

She was right, I did exactly that.

I had no choice but to admit it.

“I can’t just overlook this. If it was up to me, I’d actually like to give even more power to Riru, who’s going berserk ’outside’ right now, you know?”

“…”

This was quite unexpected.

Judging from what the Blue Devil said, it seemed as if she was ‘taking Riru’s side’.

This added another piece of evidence to the hypothesis I had earlier.

The Devils, unlike those in the ‘Sera’ that I knew, had a much ‘closer’ relationship with their Vessels.

And if that was true…

There would be one condition she couldn’t refuse.

“I shall offer myself.”

“…What?’

“For one day. I’ll offer ‘myself’ to you. You can monopolize me. During that time, you can do whatever you want with me, as long as you won’t be a serious threat to me and the people around me.”

The Blue Devil’s expression went blank.

She seemed to have not expected such an offer.

“…It’s a bit embarrassing for me to say, but I am quite a popular commodity among the Devils.”

Look no further from the being in front of me; Even she called me ‘My Husband’ and such.

According to Atalante, it seemed my soul emitted an irresistibly ‘fragrant’ scent to Devils.

So tempting that just looking at it made them want to make it ‘theirs’ forever.

“However, among them, no one has ever succeeded in monopolizing me.”

I continued with a trembling voice.

After all, what I would now be touching was the Blue Devil’s reverse scale.

The Devils were the Rulers of Pandemonium. Rulers as in plural.

Since they were all placed in such positions, whether they liked it or not, a hierarchy was bound to form among them based on their power.

And the Blue Devil, whose characteristic was to pop out whenever the Vessel got a bit angry, was easy to see, but her ‘power’ wasn’t as hopelessly overpowered as the Grey Devil’s.

By Devil standards, she would be considered in the lower ranks.

In fact, even though I was right in front of her…

Even the lowest grade of Desperation wasn’t activated right now.

Compare it with the Grey Devil, she could raise it to EX-Grade just by making eye contact with me.

‘…That’s why…’

To such a being…

“You, who have only been pushed around by other Devils until now, can monopolize something that everyone else covets, before anyone else.”

This kind of ‘bait’…

Was effective enough to be called critical.

The Blue Devil’s eyes widened.

“…”

After listening to my words, she stayed in that state for a while.

Then…

“Ha.”

She burst into laughter.

“Ah, aha. AhahAHAHAHA-!”

The sound of her clear and melodious laughter echoed. After laughing like that for a while, the Blue Devil, who even had a hint of tears in the corner of her eyes, gathered her breath.

“…It seems you know quite a lot about the affairs of Pandemonium, Dowd Campbell.”

After taking a moment to catch her breath, the Blue Devil finally spoke such words.

“I truly didn’t expect you to propose such a condition.”

“…I thought that would be enough to satisfy both you and Riru.”

“Ah, of course. I can’t remember the last time I laughed like this. It’s the first time since a few months later.”

“…A few months later?”

Not a few months ago?

“It is later, Dowd Campbell.”

The Blue Devil said as such with a smirk.

“You see, the time axis for Devils operate a bit differently from other beings.”

“…”

“You might not understand yet.”

Yep.

I really don’t.

What the fuck is she talking about?

“Anyway.”

With that, the Blue Devil got up and hopped towards me with a ‘Yap’.

Then she casually flung open my shirt.

“…”

I didn’t really want to say things like, ‘​​a boy and a girl should not sit together after they have reached the age of seven,’ but this was a bit too risky for me.

However, before I could even voice these thoughts, the Blue Devil’s hand had already reached my chest.

The exact spot where the ‘Fallen’s Seal’ engraved by the Grey Devil was located.

“…Heh. As expected of her. She left quite a large stamp.”

“A stamp?”

“A declaration. This is mine. Do not touch. Something like that. The white one hasn’t seen this yet, right?”

“Probably… Not…”

At that time, we busily exchanged what we wanted and our place of business was broken apart without a chance for her to see.

“I thought so. If the white one had seen this, she would have gone to pick a fight with ¾̸̧̥̬͈͇̹̘͕̠̮̩̙̎ð̸̞͖̋¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̷̨̨̣̭̭͓̱̼͚̮̼̭̟̱̾̄͑̈́̋͝¼̸̢̛̞̟͓̗̙͗͊̆̓̈͘͜͠ right away.”

The Blue Devil pouted her lips as she spoke.

“Everyone used to be like that. Even though we could have shared it. Always being so stubborn, claiming it as their own. Always saying they’ll never let the others have it. Allllll~ of them were like that. Always just filled to the brim with greed…”

“…”

“I’ve never had something of my own to complain about. I’ve always been expected to yield as if it was a matter of course.”

When she put it like that, it sounded like childrens squabbling over a toy, but…

This was a dispute among Devils, who were transcendent beings.

“So…”

After pouring out these words, the Blue Devil smirked.

“This time, I think I’ll be a bit greedy too. Especially since I even received such an offer.”

Following that, her hand lingered on the Fallen’s Seal. A blue aura surged around it.

System Message

[ The Sign of the ‘Blue Devil’ is added to the ‘Fallen’s Seal’! ]

[ The change in your attribute from ‘Human to ‘·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ ̷̥͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̵̢̢̥̱̝̘̟͎̯̥̟͖̞͊͐͌̿̎̋̔̈́̃̕̚͘͜͟͝͞͞·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ ̷̥͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̵̢̢̥̱̝̘̟͎̯̥̟͖̞͊͐͌̿̎̋̔̈́̃̕̚͘͜͟͝͞͞’ is accelerating. ]

[ A transformation is imminent! ]

“With this, the ‘promise’ is done. I’ve even left my stamp too.”

The Blue Devil giggled.

“It’s more like a contract, but for one day, you will become my ‘subordinate.’ You must do whatever I ask.”

“…I’m in your care.”

I answered while dripping cold sweat profusely.

“Good. Then, what do you wish for me to do?”

“…I would like you to calm down Riru who’s on the verge of going berserk.”

“The Vessel’s berserk state is a phenomenon separate from the Fragment. I’m sure you know that too, right?”

Of course.

If it wasn’t, Eleanor wouldn’t have tried to kill me directly before.

Given the nature of the Grey Devil, she wouldn’t have just stayed still and watched as that happened.

However…

“You can do it, can’t you?”

It might not be possible for other Devils, but this one was an exception.

The Devil of Wrath. A Devil who was easy to see in the scenario, but was equally easy to subdue.

At the price of her berserk state being incredibly easy to trigger, calming her down was also much easier compared to other Devils.

“Just momentarily calming Riru down will suffice for now.”

It was an ironic request to ask the Devil of Wrath to quell her anger, but…

In order to calm Riru, who was on the verge of going berserk, mental intervention at the level of a Devil was the only solution. And this being was the only one I could ask.

“After that, I’ll handle everything myself.”

“…Is that all? It seems like there’s not much for me to do compared to what you’re offering.”

“Well, there’s one more thing I wish to request of you.”

It wasn’t about dealing with the Reversed Sea that was currently outside.

Instead, it was something I needed ‘after’ it.

As I explained, the Blue Devil nodded with a chuckle.

“That’s not too difficult either. Very well.”

“Thank you.”

After saying that, I silently gazed at her.

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“…Please refrain from doing anything too excessive.”

Leaving ‘myself’ in her care for a day, well…

I could roughly guess what she might do.

At my words, the Blue Devil chuckled.

“I am looking forward to it, though.”

The Blue Devil cackled before speaking.

“The white one might be the most obsessive one, but most Devils dislike having their possessions taken away from them. Even among them, ¾̸̧̥̬͈͇̹̘͕̠̮̩̙̎ð̸̞͖̋¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̷̨̨̣̭̭͓̱̼͚̮̼̭̟̱̾̄͑̈́̋͝¼̸̢̛̞̟͓̗̙͗͊̆̓̈͘͜͠ has always been in a different league power-wise, so others have never taken away their possession, but…”

Virulence…

“This time, I. I, who have never coveted the belongings of the others…”

Like a serpent’s tongue…

Burrowed into the inside of my earflaps.

“Will dye that being’s possessions in ‘my color’.”

Then, warmth brushed against my ear.

This time, it was the Blue Devil’s tongue that was truly stretched out, slowly licking near my ear.

“Please take care of your body, my Husband.”

It was warm and intense.

A voice that seemed to tickle, packed with a shallow laugh, pounded right into my head.

“Soon enough, I’ll come to devour you.”

“…”

Alright. I got ya.

You had no intention of showing any leniency whatsoever, didn’t you?

With a wink, those were the last words she uttered…

As my consciousness was rapidly pulled back to the outside.

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