Chapter 105
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: The Answer to the Problem Isn't Always Good (6)
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"I know exactly what you're thinking. If you so much as touch a single hair on Sir Kane's head... you won't even be able to die, even if you beg for it."
Craig realized it the moment he met her eyes.
This woman hadn't lost the darkness in her heart.
On the contrary, it had grown even deeper.
Did that leave room for a demon to burrow in?
No, it didn't.
It was a different kind of darkness from before.
One she controlled herself and wielded for her own purposes.
Like the darkness of black mages, perhaps.
Not the trauma, fear, or uncontrollable rage that demons could exploit.
It was on an entirely different level.
'And this woman... she even knows how to turn it into her own power.'
Absolute mana capacity couldn't be helped, but its output and recovery ultimately depended on mental strength.
And mental strength was heavily influenced by one's emotions.
That was why people unleashed greater power than usual when angry or in extreme situations.
In other words, if one could fully control their emotions.
If they could control their mental strength to adjust mana output and recovery.
It was tantamount to a massive leap in skill as a mage.
Given demons' innate sensitivity to emotional darkness and their ability to delve into it.
Most demons could achieve this mental control.
The demons' innate mana reserves.
Their constitution that converted it into far more violent and potent demonic energy.
Plus mental control to freely adjust output and recovery.
Of course demons were strong.
Put another way, humans fundamentally couldn't do it.
Even if they understood the theory.
Thoroughly objectifying one's own emotions to control mental strength?
Honestly, it was nearly impossible for anyone short of an enlightened sage.
So how had Rin made it possible?
She had experienced levels of trauma and rage that most people never would in a lifetime.
And thanks to her immense sensitivity, she had detected the subtle shifts in mana hidden by those emotions.
That allowed her to control her mental strength based on her emotional state.
As a hero, she had vast innate mana reserves to begin with.
She could freely manipulate its output.
And her mana recovery was effectively infinite.
In short, she matched a demon in every way except for wielding demonic energy.
Even if she wasn't a full descent vessel, it was enough to instill momentary terror in an upper demon like Craig.
"I want to rip you limb from limb right now... but it looks like I can't even descend properly for the moment."
She said this while gazing down at Marco's body, its muscles burst open across his frame.
A tone as if she could win even if Craig descended.
Craig found it quite irritating.
But he couldn't retort.
Of course, no matter how well she controlled her mental strength as a hero.
She couldn't defeat Craig's true upper demon body, which was on a fundamentally different level.
Craig thought the same.
He couldn't argue back simply because this vessel's body had reached its limit, making it hard even to speak.
Marco's overworked body would soon meet its end.
Then, naturally, the fragment of Craig within would return to the demon realm.
'No helping it. If it's just repatriation due to the vessel's death, the damage isn't too bad.'
He could recover quickly and find another descent vessel.
If worst came to worst, he could spend more time and punch through to descend directly into a suitable spot on the surface.
With that in mind, Craig tried to exit Marco's body and return.
But then.
"Can't let you go that easily."
Snap!
Suddenly, Rin grabbed his wrist.
"Don't come back for a while."
Sssshhh─
A bone-chilling cold began seeping in through his wrist, making his soul tremble.
It was Rin's mana.
A frigid ice-attribute mana.
And it wasn't just freezing his body normally.
'Ma, mana circuits... it's invading them directly...!'
It flowed through his mana circuits, gradually freezing them.
And began deeply infiltrating his soul.
...Even into the crevices where Craig had burrowed.
"Kaaaaah!"
Marco's body screamed in the horrific agony of a freezing soul.
[KRAAAAAHH!]
And within, Craig's soul wailed alongside it.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! To exploit such a vulnerability...!'
A mighty demon's soul wouldn't fall to such a trivial attack.
Demon bodies were thoroughly fortified against mana infiltration.
But now he was inside Marco's body.
A mere back-alley thug boss with a sturdy frame had no such defenses against mana intrusion.
Thus, Craig's soul began freezing under Rin's mana.
And it continued until Craig hastily fled Marco's body.
Fwaah!
"Kuhuk!"
Craig spat out a ragged breath and shot to his feet.
The location was his room inside Demon King Jeral's castle.
Craig no longer appeared as the scarred man.
Instead, he took the form of a giant with tattered wings and a goat's head.
His soul had returned to the demon realm.
"Kraaak! Filthy hero bitch!!"
Craig ground his teeth, shaking off the lingering chill in his soul.
Her frost had damaged his soul, extending his recovery time before he could cross back to the middle realm.
"I'll rip you apart. I'll rip that redhead apart with you."
Still feeling the sharp cold in his hand.
Filled with rage, he slammed the nearby desk.
Kwaaang!
The desk shattered into pieces powerlessly.
Yet Craig was still heaving with unsatisfied fury.
"Craig."
"...?"
Then, sensing someone enter his room, Craig turned around.
There stood a 5-meter-tall muscular giant with ten pitch-black arms.
The Weapon Demon King and Craig's master, Great Demon Jeral.
"Things aren't going well, it seems."
He scanned Craig with an impassive expression.
As if peering into his soul.
Soon, realizing Craig's soul was considerably damaged, Jeral spoke in his usual flat tone.
"As before. The middle realm seems tougher than expected."
"...I-I'm sorry."
Jeral did nothing.
He merely spoke in that indifferent tone and expression.
Yet Craig trembled in terror.
A demon quaking in fear.
It was on a whole different level from the fleeting dread he'd felt toward Rin as a soul fragment.
His true body was breaking out in cold sweats, shuddering.
Because he knew how powerful Jeral was and how merciless he was to failures.
That was why he feared him so.
"This is your last chance."
"...Yes."
With that, Jeral left Craig's room.
"...Damn it, damn it."
Now he had even more reason not to fail.
Revenge against those human women, Rin and Jenny.
But if he failed again this time...
'Annihilation.'
Jeral showed no mercy to failed subordinates.
He'd overlooked it twice because Craig was a long-trusted confidant.
Any ordinary subordinate would have been disposed of after the first failure.
Thus, Craig vowed to succeed no matter what this time.
And began recovering his soul.
The demonic aura had completely vanished.
It had withdrawn from Marco's body, and the situation was fully resolved.
"Ri-Rin. Are you okay?"
Realizing it was over, Kane rushed over and checked on her.
Of course, even as he asked, he thought he wasn't in a position to worry about her.
'...I just stood back and watched.'
He'd trained diligently and grown stronger.
But he was still weak.
No matter how much stronger a human got, to a demon, they were still insignificant vermin.
'In the end, I couldn't help at all this time.'
He hadn't even properly restrained Marco, and after the demon possession, he'd just been background scenery.
He was nothing but a mere screen, an utterly ordinary human, nothing more.
It used to feel natural.
He hadn't given it a second thought.
But now, it felt frustrating somehow.
For not being able to help Rin.
"I'm fine, Sir Kane. It's all thanks to you being here!"
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything."
"No, your mere presence is a huge help to me, Sir Kane."
Rin's words weren't mere comfort.
In truth, she'd been able to perfectly control her emotions because Kane was by her side.
He was the driving force that let her objectively grasp and command all her feelings.
"With you here, Sir Kane, I can get even stronger."
To protect Kane.
To channel her rage for Kane.
To earn Kane's approval.
Kane, Kane, Kane.
To Rin, Kane was her entire world.
For him, an upper demon was nothing.
She would grow strong enough to topple even a demon king.
"Thank you for saying that."
"Hehehe."
Just then, Soma approached from the side and spoke up.
"By the way, what do we do with this guy?"
He gestured toward Marco's body, drenched in blood, one hand frozen solid.
With even the demon fled, the injuries were beyond what any human could survive.
He had died on the spot.
"Looks like he's the boss with the scar we've been after."
Marco, the scarred boss who was the quest target.
They'd been told to kill him anyway, so taking the body back would complete the request.
But.
"...Since he was possessed by a demon, should we check with the Mira Federation side?"
Rin was right.
A human who had enabled demon possession.
He was no longer just some back-alley boss.
In this case, deciding his disposal wasn't something mere outsider adventurers like them could do.
"For now, let's contact the quest giver then..."
Soma started to say.
"Hold on."
Kane stopped him.
"...Just a moment. Let's talk."
He glanced around cautiously.
Then carefully opened his mouth to Rin and Soma.