132. The Demon of Wrath
132. The Demon of Wrath
Frenzied Clown—Mephisto's Rage.
Ever since the founding of the Demon Lord Army, she had held the seat of second-in-command. To many demons, she was an object of envy and admiration, yet, ironically, when judged on pure combat ability alone, her body was never rated particularly high.
Even if she possessed the unconventional power to shake an entire army, in a one-on-one fight divorced from the collective, there was no demon less suited to battle than her.
And because she was such a frail demon, in order to survive among the savagery of her kin, she treated every demon other than the Demon King with nothing but pure, naked hostility.
Knowing she was an infinitely weak existence outside the Demon King's shadow, she had no choice but to guard herself by remaining constantly wary of everything around her, her nerves on a perpetual razor's edge.
'How long has it been, I wonder. Since Mephy last got this angry.'
The surname that followed her name—Rage—was surely the word that defined her.
After that deeply emotional Demon King lost his will to live, that light had gradually begun to fade. But now, as if to mock that very emptiness, she was directing a fury at her that had stolen all reason.
Just what kind of being was that man she had violated?
What could have made that hollow demon—whom no stimulation could reignite desire in—reclaim her old self and hurl a fist at her?
-Swish.
Of course, setting that aside, the attack hadn't actually done her any damage.
For a dream demon who had reached a certain level, it was possible to transform her own body into a mist-like state, allowing her very existence to dissolve and seep into another's mind.
For someone with a self-aware ego, recovering from a shattered head was a matter of mere seconds.
"Ahaha~ Looks like our Mephy is really, really angry..."
-Whoosh!
But had she lost even the reason to recall such an obvious fact?
Marilyn's grip closed the distance again and began to mercilessly butcher the alley wall.
-Boom!!
Yes, it was butchery.
A brutally violent gesture that tore apart everything it touched.
-Crack!
When the magical power riding that blow finally exploded, the shards caught in her grasp scattered outward, shredding Yasumo's body to ribbons.
That too could simply be regenerated, but what followed was a punch laden with so much force that even the mass of rubble in her hand was pulverized to dust.
-Kwaaang!
An explosion of magical power followed, still embedded in Yasumo's lower abdomen.
As if that weren't enough, the magical power that crushed the earth beneath her feet spread out in all directions, causing fissures throughout the surrounding streets.
There was no danger of outsiders entering since a barrier was in place, but the problem was that this very concealment was now choking the life out of her.
'This is getting rather dangerous... I need to put some distance between us and observe the situation.'
Yasumo's mist-formed body flew up and over a building, escaping the range of the rampage.
But the body she intended to rise with a flap of her wings was cut off limply, blocked by a defensive wall that had formed in the air.
The immense magical power she had scattered earlier had, at some point, formed a physical barrier that blanketed the entire area.
-Tang!!!
With her escape route blocked, what Marilyn did to the cornered Yasumo was to violently strum the strings of the lute she had summoned into her hands.
-Tang!! Tang!!!!
As a deafening roar one would never expect from a stringed instrument rang out, unstable masses of energy began to gather at the lute's edge.
It was the madness magic, amplified through sound as a medium. An unavoidable attack that would expand in all directions the moment the force condensing that mass was liberated.
"Aaaaaaaahhhh!!!"
The prelude to that merciless attack detonated from the hand that swung with her scream, unleashing waves of sound in every direction.
Inside the site, which was enclosed by a physical barrier.
With a momentum that didn't spare her own body, aiming for mutual destruction with her foe.
-Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!!!
A chain reaction of explosions occurred as the sounds reflected off the walls countless times, creating overlapping shockwaves.
Within the thick haze of dust created as the abandoned buildings and structures inside were all pulverized to powder, Yasumo, who had barely managed to reconstruct her form amidst the smoke, began to grind her teeth.
"Haah, this is... I knew she'd lost her mind, but I never expected her to attack without even sparing her own body."
She had never expected that a colleague who consistently ignored any stimulation would run wild and attack her like this.
She had wanted to resolve this quietly if possible, but an attack targeting the entire space like this inevitably inflicts damage even upon a dream demon, whose very body is akin to energy.
Of course, the opponent would take even greater damage, but demons are a species that considers the minor damage they sustain to be more important than the damage their opponent suffers.
"Well, I guess I have no choice. I should start getting serious too..."
To minimize that damage, she would have to abandon old ties and use force herself.
The moment she made that resolution and gathered her magical power, Yasumo's gaze reflexively shot to the side.
Because she could feel a powerful force approaching through the thick smoke that filled the area, targeting her at this very moment.
-Whoosh!!
Yes, what tore through the smoke and approached was the Demon of Wrath, rushing forward having endured even the recoil of her own technique.
Her bloodshot eyes fixed on her, her fist was poised to strike precisely at her face.
'This crazy bitch!?'
She had never anticipated a charge that ignored even the aftereffects of a technique tantamount to a suicide attack.
She hurriedly reached out a hand that had gathered magical power to spread a defense, but the moment that force collided with her hand, Yasumo instinctively knew.
'What the hell, this is... stronger than before...'
-Kwaang!!!
A destructive strike loaded with full power.
A body slammed and pushed back by that attack, ultimately scattering and disintegrating into pieces.
"Huff, huff..."
Only then did Marilyn, finally regaining her composure, steady her breathing as she looked around at the devastated area she had wrought with her own hands.
Wasted stamina without any control, a relentless assault that even risked taking her enemy down with her.
But though she was worked up, Marilyn didn't consider it a pure loss.
Her opponent was one of the highest-ranking beings even among demons, who felt ecstasy in trampling and mocking others.
To drive out someone like that, even if you couldn't kill them, you had to push them with enough force to leave a scar that wouldn't fade for a lifetime.
'Her presence is gone. She's left this place.'
It was just that she had fled, fearing she herself would come to harm.
But for now, there was something that took priority over chasing her opponent.
"Hyosung, Hyosung! Wake up, Hyosung!"
Woo Hyosung. The person who had saved her from the shackles of an unattainable desire.
Among the countless pebbles scattered throughout this world, the one and only being who had caught her eye.
In this empty life, where she had thought only death could save her, his existence had come to her as hope itself.
She had felt that this thought was no illusion, for the fluttering in her heart had only grown clearer the more time she spent with him.
"...Haah, haah."
Just seeing him suffer in this unconscious state made her feel as if her heart was being torn apart.
That a demon, who should be selfish, would feel anguish at seeing another's pain. Was it because the person before her was absolutely essential to fulfilling her desires?
Was it truly because the person before her was nothing more than a substitute, meant to fulfill the desires her old lord could no longer?
"...Hyosung."
No, that wasn't it. There was no way she could consider a strong being to whom she'd sworn loyalty simply to protect herself, and a weak being who had been violated by someone of lower standing than that, as equals.
Because loyalty sworn to satisfy expectation, and love, which can be called the very expectation itself, are completely different emotions.
Now, he is an existence she cannot separate from her life. So how could she ignore his pain and seek a substitute?
"...Because of me."
Because he was such a precious existence, a feeling one could call guilt was squirming in Marilyn's heart as she looked down at him at this moment.
Though she didn't know why Yasumo had infiltrated human society, the reason that woman had targeted and approached him was probably because she had unconsciously become aware of her own presence.
Even if the trigger was mere trivial curiosity or, from that woman's perspective, a prank, it was undeniable that the resulting damage had occurred because she was by his side.
"Because of me, Hyosung..."
She felt that sense of self-reproach churning her insides, but Marilyn endured that despair, propping up his body to check his condition.
Explaining the circumstances or begging for forgiveness could wait until after she had restored his condition, she decided.
****
-Rattle.
After leaving the scene, Marilyn hastily rented a room at an inn in the bustling district.
Then, after laying him down on the bed, she placed her hands on his collapsed body and took some time to examine his condition.
'Yasumo's magical power has penetrated deeply. If I hadn't intervened, he might have become a broken shell.'
Judging by the signs of resistance all over his body, he seemed to have sensed her identity and struggled, but his opponent was the queen of the dream demons who had lived for a similar span of time.
She was the incarnation of lust who, with the power accumulated over that time, had violated any prey she set her eyes on across dimensions.
No matter how innately strong his mind was, once caught off guard, it was impossible for him to resist an opponent who transcended human limits.
"Haah, haah."
At least he hadn't yet reached the state where his very essence was being wrung out, but that didn't mean he was free from the magical power that had invaded his mind.
If he is left like this and cannot wake from the nightmare, his mind might completely break and fall into an irreversible state.
"...Hyosung, don't worry. I'll heal you right away."
Fortunately, she too was a pure-blooded demon just like Yasumo.
Since she was well-versed in handling the powers of demons, neutralizing the magical power disrupting his mind was certainly possible.
Just place a hand on his body, absorb that magical power into herself, and slowly remove it, and he would surely recover. But that thought was fleeting.
"Haah, haah..."
As she was about to continue the recovery process, he suddenly raised his upper body and began to pant, turning his vacant eyes toward Marilyn.
"Hyosung, wait a moment! If you get up... Mmph!?"
The moment she approached to lay him back down, her lips were blocked. Through the warmth she felt from him, Marilyn belatedly realized that his lips had overlapped with hers.
-Chu-lip, mmph.
No, it wasn't just a simple collision.
Prying open the seam of her lips and sliding his tongue inside—this was unmistakably an adult's kiss.
"W-wait, Hyosung, why are you... Mmph, mph!"
As that kiss gradually grew hotter, Marilyn couldn't bring herself to push him away and had no choice but to accept the act.
It wasn't the first time she had kissed him, but back then, she had been the one leading it.
Even that had ultimately been given up on, deeming that he couldn't prioritize her. So how could she possibly push him away when he was kissing her as if he desired her?
"Marilyn... right?"
At the end of that intense kiss, her beloved gasped for breath and directed dazed eyes at her.
His eyes weren't focused properly, but the fact that her name fell from his lips showed that some consciousness remained within him.
Yes, his innate mental fortitude had allowed him to resist the magical power that was scrambling his mind.
"I, actually... it's been, really hard to hold on, since earlier."
But that only meant he was clinging to his ego; it didn't mean he had completely shaken off the power that had invaded his body at this moment.
If he relaxed the reins of his reason even slightly, he would not only lose consciousness, but would also be helplessly swayed every moment by the 'physical stimulation' he felt throughout the process.
Effectively, his current state was no different from being heavily drugged with an aphrodisiac, intoxicated by the 'lust magic' emitted by a dream demon.
"I tried, to hold on somehow... but now, my tension is gone... my body, won't listen to me."
"Huh? Uh, um, w-wait... Ah, ack!?"
Startled by the feeling of a hand on her chest, Marilyn stiffened her whole body.
As she stood there flustered by this utterly unexpected situation, he soon closed the distance between their saliva-moistened lips once more.
"Haah, ugh..."
Rough breaths escaping through his mouth.
A heart pounding at the sensuality she felt from him.
'With Hyosung... really?'
Of course, she had constantly dreamed of such a thing.
She knew there was always a 'first one' in his heart, but if he could come to prioritize her over that woman as time passed, she would surely be able to have an ideal relationship with him.
So, she could likely use this moment as an opportunity to sharply close the distance between them in one go.
'So, I should be... looking forward to this.'
But why?
Though it was a situation she had yearned for, why was a feeling called fear squirming in her heart at this moment?
"N-no..."
Before she could even realize the reason for herself, Marilyn's hands roughly shoved his body away.
A strike delivered with all her might, from hands still trembling with the thrill of the earlier fight, unleashing even her magical power.
"NOOOO!"
-Kwaang!!!
His body was pushed by that force and slammed violently into the opposite side of the room.
Afterward, his body, which had floundered from the impact, went limp. But Marilyn couldn't bring herself to voice her worry for him.
No matter how close the situation she had anticipated had come to being realized, she had always thought it must happen through mutual will and not any other way.
"...Idiot!"
Yes, the revulsion she felt now was surely for that reason.
There couldn't possibly be any other reason.
"I'm not even ready yet and you just suddenly do this! You idiot, Hyosung! Idiot!!"
To think that she, the one who had been second-in-command of the Demon Lord Army, would feel embarrassment over something like this.
Was such a thing even remotely becoming of her?