Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The Favor (3)
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In truth, digging into someone's head to subdue them is, when you think about it, a pretty ridiculous ability.
It's basically a form of combat that doesn't rely on physical force.
You invade the opponent's mental space, battle them there to bring them down, then keep doing it until they finally surrender.
Once you get their pledge to never perform a certain action and enforce it with divine power, the situation ends.
‘So this is how it works.’
I nod and look around the vast, empty white space stretching out around me.
This must be my mental space.
We’ve been pulled into a completely separate area, just the two of us.
“...Huh.”
The fallen angel looks around the space unfolding around her, just like I am.
She has a thoroughly dumbfounded expression, though.
“W-What is this? Why is there nothing here?”
I chuckle softly at her words.
My situation is a bit unique, after all.
‘...Mental spaces are directly influenced by one’s karma, right?’
I scratch my head as that thought comes to mind.
That evil deed counter, the standard that defines whether a person leans toward good or evil.
Karma values accumulate not just from murder but from all sorts of misdeeds, and conversely, they can be lowered through good deeds by normal moral standards or mental discipline.
Those with high karma might have hellish realms unfolding in their spaces, while those with low karma get pastoral, harmonious scenes.
So my case—completely ‘empty’—is pretty bizarre.
Does that mean I’m neither good nor evil?
“W-What! It’s a little unusual, sure! But an angel is still an angel! You must’ve messed up!”
The fallen angel straightens up proudly as she says that.
“No matter what the opponent throws at us, angels excel in mental discipline through asceticism and restraint! We never panic, no matter who—”
“You were pretty panicked just now.”
“...I was not!”
Hmm.
Maybe it’s not asceticism or restraint that’s her strongest suit, but sheer shamelessness.
‘...She’s always been like this.’
Female angels are extremely rare, so a female angel at ‘Elpante,’ especially a fallen one, isn’t hard to narrow down.
The players call her the Clumsy One.
She stands out as especially sloppy in the heavens, packed with rigid rules that make it hard to even breathe.
“I don’t know what you were thinking dragging an angel into your mental space, but you’ll regret it, you!”
The Clumsy One spreads her wings wide as she says that.
Then, a massive aura ripples around her as white energy surges.
Definitely overwhelming divine power.
On par with—or even surpassing—what I felt directly from the Pope before.
Even if angels are restricted in unleashing their full power in the material world, here in the mental space, they can draw on everything they have.
“...By the way, what’s that?”
I scratch my head and look at her.
“You should prepare yourself now.”
“...What?”
“Mental spaces are linked to the soul, right?”
That’s definitely how it works in the setting.
It’s a space based on information stored in the soul.
The Clumsy One narrows her eyes slightly.
“So what? That just puts you at a disadvantage. Most abilities of material beings are tied to the flesh, so in a mental space, a spiritual being like an angel has the upper—”
She doesn’t have time for explanations like that.
I sigh and cut her off.
“If we create a space connected to my soul, something will come charging in like mad.”
Recalling what Atalante explained before.
The ‘nature’ of my soul is great at drawing things in.
Extremely extreme things, at that.
I think there was one near my real body in the material world, too.
“Ah, here it comes.”
As I say that, the Clumsy One’s expression hardens fast.
She must have immediately sensed something forcing its way into this space.
Of course, calling it just ‘coming’ feels a bit... off.
-...
It’s less ‘appearing’ and more...
-...!
‘Descending.’
The empty landscape of my mental world gets dyed ‘pure white’ in an instant. It spreads so fast it’s like an explosion.
But the feeling emanating from that color is anything but pure or clean.
It’s so clear it feels like your head might split open.
Just looking at it conveys a ‘stickiness’ that could drive you insane.
It’s not easy to evoke disgust with such a color, but there’s one being that can.
“...”
The Clumsy One’s wings flop to the ground.
Her mouth gapes open. Her eyes shake.
“Demon...?”
As that mutter spreads,
A single girl tears through the space itself to reveal herself.
The entire mental space shakes from that alone.
“Eek—!”
The Clumsy One watches as all the divine power she’d spread out gets devoured in one go by white demonic energy, and collapses right there.
Her legs must have given out.
Normally, she could close this mental space she opened and return to her body in the material world, but with control shifted over there, that’s impossible now.
Opening and closing this place is entirely up to that one’s whim.
“D-Demon... how...? Why is a demon here...!”
“...”
No matter who the opponent is, she doesn’t panic, huh.
Watching her half-mad mutter that, a pitying sigh escapes me.
See? I told you.
I said to prepare from the start.
‘...I get it.’
I look at her with a wry smile.
To handle even a fragment of a demon lord one-on-one, you’d need at least a virtue angel or the rank right below.
A fallen angel isn’t low-tier, but against this, she’d get shredded like paper.
The hierarchies don’t even match to begin with. Demons rule Pandemonium; a fallen angel is just a slightly powerful angel at best.
[ ‘Skill: Fatal Charm’ activates! ]
[ Target ‘White Devil’s Fragment’ takes interest in you! ]
I glare at the window that pops up, eyes narrowed.
‘The system isn’t getting shredded.’
It’s completely different from when the Gray Devil’s fragment appeared.
Back then, every window got wrecked, and I couldn’t read a thing.
Guess there’s a clear ‘difference in power’ even among demons.
Just the fact that Desperate Situation isn’t triggering proves it.
[Found you.]
But.
[My mate.]
That voice echoes thickly, and chills shoot up my spine.
The girl who appeared in the space walks toward me, step by step.
It’s Yuria’s form, not a stitch of clothing on her. Since the fragment acts through a vessel, it’s natural it takes her appearance.
Unlike the usual small-animal vibe she has, this one radiates a distinctly ‘dangerous’ aura.
[Kept wanting to meet you. Kept wanting to see you.]
Even on that small girl’s face, the expression carries a bewitching atmosphere that makes your mind reel.
[You too, right?]
The air turns sweet. Just breathing it makes me want to drop to my knees.
I want to declare I’m yours, kiss your feet—the desire surges.
Lust like flames races through my body. No matter what, I want this girl, I want her to be mine—
[ ‘Authority: Seduction’ clashes with ‘Skill: Fatal Charm’! ]
[ Resisting effect! ]
“...”
My mind clears in an instant, and I punch my own jaw.
With no restraint, the girl walking toward me and the Clumsy One on the floor both get question marks over their heads.
But I feel like I’ve just survived death.
‘...That was really dangerous.’
I rub my stinging jaw and shake my head, my mind clearing a bit.
If the Gray Devil’s basic authority spreads ‘corrosion’ influencing time and space around it, the White Devil directly injects its influence into the mind with ‘Seduction.’
Any intelligent being that recognizes the White Devil unconditionally develops immense affection toward it.
Even with prior preparation, it was this bad. Any other human would’ve become its slave the moment their eyes met.
‘Lucky I have a skill that counters it.’
It seduces me, but I can seduce it right back.
In game systems, when these cancel each other out, the effects halve.
But put another way.
[...Why resist?]
Even with Fatal Charm halved, it’s still like this.
The light fades from the White Devil’s eyes. Her focus wavers everywhere.
Just my refusal to become her ‘slave’ has completely broken her mentally.
[I want you. Why don’t you.]
“...”
Twisted possessiveness. Obsession. Blind love toward the target.
The keywords symbolizing the White Devil.
[Why not you? Huh? Hate me? Huh?]
Like a broken radio. Monotone. Short bursts.
With a mad look, she spits words and strides toward me. White demonic energy writhes unnaturally around her, crashing like a tidal wave.
[I’ll give you anything. I’ll do whatever you want. What do you want? The world in your hands? Become emperor? Power to kill other humans like bugs? I can do anything—]
As the White Devil mutters that and approaches, she suddenly stops, something catching her foot.
It’s the Clumsy One, trembling and streaming tears.
[An angel.]
The White Devil mutters that emotionlessly, then
Light flares back in her eyes.
[...Should I give it as a gift? Wanna eat?]
“...”
She’s talking about the fallen angel like a snack from the corner store.
[Eat an angel, tear it apart. You get strong. You’d like it, surely...]
“Waaah—!”
The Clumsy One spreads her wings to flee at those words, but white demonic energy lashes out like lightning and grabs her ankle.
[How about it, wanna eat?]
I sigh at the White Devil saying that and look at the Clumsy One dangling upside down in midair.
“That’s what she said.”
“What do you mean ‘that’s what she said’! H-Help me! You seem to know her—!”
“Who’d do that for free?”
“...”
The Clumsy One’s lips twitch. She wants to curse but can’t in this situation.
“What do you want! I’ll give anything—!”
“A sacred relic that conditionally alleviates the Curse of Severance.”
“...”
The Clumsy One’s lips twitch even harder.
Normally, this isn’t something she can decide alone. The Curse of Severance ranks among the worst curses on Sera. Weakening it would require something quite precious even from the heavens.
But.
“I-I’ll give it! Just give it—!”
Right.
She has no choice.
But that’s not enough.
“Swear it too. Stake one wing.”
“How do you even know angel rules...! Eek—!”
In the end, the Clumsy One, bawling her eyes out, spits out the oath just as I said.
Otherwise, what?
Die here.
‘Death’ in the mental space affects the real body. Fatally so.
[...Not gonna eat?]
The White Devil spits that out discontentedly.
“Fair warning.”
I take a deep breath and speak.
“If you touch her, I won’t let it slide.”
“W-What are you saying...! You can’t fight a demon...!”
I chuckle at the Clumsy One’s response.
Who said anything about fighting?
Of course I can’t.
I draw the sword at my waist and point it at my own throat.
“Don’t listen, and I kill myself.”
“...”
[...]
Not that I’d really do it. But what’re you gonna do?
Considering the White Devil’s nature, just the thought that I ‘might’ would drive her mad.
Feels a bit harsh to the one who likes me, but when she shoves unconditional affection without asking, I’ve gotta gaslight back a little.
And sure enough, the moment I say it, her eyes shake wildly. She bites her lip. Anxious as hell, anyone can see.
As both the White Devil and fallen angel go quiet, I chuckle and continue.
“So let her go and release the mental space. I’ll deal with you later.”
[...Deal with me?]
“You know what I mean. We’ll meet again, right?”
I meet her eyes and say it calmly.
Yeah, me and this one. Like all the other demons, we’re fated to face off body-to-body someday.
Any demon would instinctively sense that.
[...]
After a long silence, she finally speaks again.
[...Promise?]
“Promise.”
I nod.
Promise or not, it’s bound to happen.
[...Okay.]
The White Devil pouts and drops the Clumsy One with a thud.
The Clumsy One flops to the floor with a splat.
Then the White Devil’s fragment, in Yuria’s form, strides toward me.
She strokes the outside of the mask covering my face.
The thing I always wear around Yuria. Wearing it today too.
“...”
Where her hand touches, it feels like it’s melting entirely.
Not as bad as the Gray Devil, but a demon’s a demon.
“...”
Ah, right.
Finally remembered why I always wear the mask around Yuria.
Specifically, for cases like this, when she’s the White Devil’s ‘vessel.’
[Your face.]
This.
It’s the White Devil’s ‘berserk’ trigger.
The event that happens the moment she recognizes my face.
Among demon-related events, it ranks high for being a total pain.
[Show me later. Promise.]
“...”
Absolutely.
Never gonna show her.
I swear it, and at that moment.
My mental space collapses completely.
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