Volume 4, Chapter 20: The Demon Princess, Part 3

“[Well, Geas…… You can stop holding it in. It’s okay to speak your desires. With this special soul, I will send you to the time when that girl was happy.]”

Deep within the plane… In the [Laboratory] that created [Doors] to various dimensions, the Demon Heraness whispered into the ears of Geas.

A strong soul that could cross over to another world wasn’t too rarely seen, but after maturing the soul for over a hundred years, it was about time to harvest it.

Deliberately, the last stroke…… The Demon broke Geas’ heart to injure his soul.

“[Take the girl. It’s easy with your power. Even if she has become the thing of another man, even if they have already made a child, you should just kill it and take it all.]”

“……Such a thing… she”

“[Isn’t it fine…? Aren’t you the only one able to bring happiness to her? Is it okay for her to be happy with someone other than you? Is it acceptable that you have been deprived of your rightful place?]”

“………Aaah…”

The Cruel [Demon’s whisper] tore at his heart, and Geas covered his face with his hands as he shed tears.

At this sight, an expression of joy floated on the Demon’s face,

“[Why are you troubled? You should just do whatever you like. Take back what was taken from you]”

“I can’t do… such a thing”

“[Then, let me show you their current situation. This is reality.]”

In the darkness of the plane, the scenery of another world was shown to Geas.

“[Look…Right now, that unknown man is taking out the ring. Look closely at the face of the woman that was your wife.]”

“Have all her feelings for me already been lost?”

“[You are already past tense to her now. Are you alright with that…? Did you really believe that she would keep waiting for you?]”

“A woman’s heart is as fickle as an autumn sky… didn’t you know that?”

“[Yes, yes……]”

“………”

“………”

“[…Whaat!?]”

In that moment, he realized that there was a golden-haired girl that was torturing Geas together with him, Heraness flew off in a hurry and took his distance.

“[Y-you, how did you get here!?]”

“Ara, I’m here to obstruct you, Hera… he… Hyacinth-san”

“[Who the heck is that!]”

Heraness’ angry roar shook the entire plane, and Yurushia who was bad at remembering names of people made a slightly embarra.s.sed expression as the ends of her eyebrows drooped, and she hid her mouth with a black fan.

“A monkey did it. By the way, your breath smells…… I can smell it even from here. Do you have an upset stomach?”

“[……………You b.i.t.c.h]”

If his stomach was really upset, Heraness really wanted to say that it was her fault, but somehow, he got the feeling that that would be falling into the pace of this strange Demon.

His intuition was proven right as a strange atmosphere was born the moment that he noticed her [Presence] that made him dizzy.

First of all: how did she even get here?

Other than Heraness, only people who had [Committed a Sin] or were those who [Had Malicious Intent] could pa.s.s through that gate, and if other Demons and spirits tried to pa.s.s through, they would take considerable amounts of time and magic power.

Even if it was a limit-exceeding [Devil], it was no exception.

Then…… who was this [Demon] that was in front of him……?

“[……Coming to a place like this alone… Young [Devil], aren’t you too overconfident in your own power?]”

He would search for it later.

Just now Heraness had retreated due to the presence of Rinne, the [Demon Beast].

It was rare for conflicts to happen between the high-ranking Demons in the Demon World, and even if they destroyed their opponent, since others would know that their powers were weak afterwards, they would come to destroy them.

The only exception that Heraness had never ever thought of fighting was the [Dark Beast] that struck out with his fangs without fear of death.

But that [Demon Beast], would take several months to reach this place.

“What can I do with me alone…?”

“[That’s what I said, Yurushia.]”

Gradually… as the two peak Demons began to leak out their [Presence], Geas’ body began to spasm as his soul withered.

“Oops… Please wait. If you do, I’ll show you something good.”

“[……Are you hesitant now?]”

“Well, well, if you want to [Finish] that human soul, there are also a few methods.”

“[………]”

The Demon watched and waited as Yurushia talked to Geas with a smile on her face.

“Geas-san? I’ve been doing my best for a long time. ……It’s been more than 50 years.”

“………eh?”

50 years. Feeling something strange about those words, Geas raised his head.

Geas had been collecting souls for over 100 years. What in the world was this little girl saying?

“That spectacle…… I know of it a little. However, I’d have thought it a dream…… That scene is at least 40 to 50 years in the past, from what I know.”

“eh… wh-……what?”

“It’s strange. You didn’t think much about what you were [Seeing]. Perhaps, you were misled about the flow of time?”

“…Wh-”

The sight that Geas had been shown at the age of 3 had been [Current] events then.

Heraness had lied to Geas with words of the [Future], and adjusted Geas’ perception of time so that she would be at the cusp of happiness with another man when Geas reached his limit.

“To think that thanks to your perseverance, it would take 50 years.”

When Yurushia glanced his way, Heraness’ face abruptly grimaced.

Heraness’ original plan had been around 30 years. He had probably meant to break Geas’ heart by showing him his [Wife] surrounded by her husband and a child when he was an [Old Man] at the age of 60.

But Geas had held out for 50 years…… and had held out for 100 years.

“Even for Demons, to foresee the future and to control time is impossible, you know? The first thing you were shown was real… How many years have pa.s.sed since then?”

“…………a…AAA, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Geas crumbled down crying when he heard the [Truth]…… and the reality of the situation.

He didn’t know whether he would live more than 50 years from the time when he was 22.

The soul of Geas was dyed in despair……

To break the hearts of those who had been deceived, there was nothing better to say than the [Truth].

And… to Geas who was in this state, Yurushia handed him a small box with a smile.

“Geas-san, please make your wish. Make a [Contract] with me.”

“[You b.i.t.c.h! What are you saying?!]”

Heraness pressed angrily to Yurushia, who was trying to s.n.a.t.c.h his prey from the side. … But

“[Wh-this is…, why!?]”

At the instant he approached the two, Heraness noticed that time seemed to slip, and that he was seeing double.

“[YurushiaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!]”

A [Devil] who understood the hearts of men, and collected souls with sweet words.

There was a remarkable difference between souls that were collected by killing and those obtained by a [Contract].

For that reason, Yurushia had set a trap.

By including the [Spirit Language] in the conversation,

“[The flow of time was tampered with.]”

“[That Demon cannot foresee the future nor can he control the time of the world.]”

And, with those words, she had delayed the [Observed] time of Heraness by several dozen seconds with that [Demonic Magic].

And in the meantime, she brought everything to an end.

“……Please… kill me.”

“Yes. Thank you for your contractー”

*bon….*

“[AAAAAAAAAAAAAA]”

In front of Heraness’ eyes, Yurushia shattered Geas’ body in an instant, and made it disappear.

“fufu…”

In Yurushia’s hands was Geas’ soul, which had been stained black with deep despair.

In Heraness’ eyes, he could clearly see that all the sins, all the despair within that soul had been chained by the [Contract], and bound to Yurushia.

“[……You did it. Yurushia…]”

“The moment when you were unable to fulfil Geas’ wish, the contract between you two was gone. Well… even I didn’t think that I would be able to do this much. I was quite desperate.”

Yurushia gently took a breath and gestured as if she was wiping away her sweat as she did the unreasonable.

In the first place, why was she, a newly born [Devil], able to so naturally swindle a [Demon Lord]?

While saying that Demons couldn’t manipulate the time of the world, how was she an existence that could cheat time locally?

“Ever since I was called a Devil, I’ve been getting strange knowledge about how to use my power…… Is this normal?”

“[…………]”

It was certainly true that as a Demon’s [Cla.s.s] went up, they would acquire new [powers].

But the [Devil] in front of him was just too irregular.

In any case.

“[……To obtain that soul, I must destroy you]”

“……Is that so?”

Yurushia spoke lightly as she threw out the soul of Geas that she had worked hard for all too easily.

“[Wha… Oi!]”

Geas’ soul fell through the door of [s.p.a.ce-time] that was being used in an experiment, and disappeared to a place where the Demons couldn’t reach.

“[Why would you do that?!]”

Even as Heraness’ anger filled the plane, Yurushia’s relaxed smile didn’t change.

Heraness didn’t understand what this [Devil] was trying to do.

This [Devil] was just too [Different]………

“[Has there ever been a [Devil] like you…… However, you’re not a [Demon Beast]. You can’t even be a [Demon Lord]. Just [What] are you…!?]”

As the [Hostility] and [Bloodthirst] overflowed from the two high-ranking demon pillars, the plane cracked, and the dimension screamed.

Yurushia tilted her head slightly, as she smiled lightly at Heraness, and her cherry-colored lips spilled the words into the darkness.

“…[Demon Princess]…”

That sweet smile, turned into the gruesome [Demon]‘s smile.

The two high-ranking pillars then began to fight wordlessly, their impacts shocking and destroying the plane, for several months without end.