A rustle… The sound of the audience, who had merely been watching the events unfold one after another, gasping in unison spread like ripples.
Even I could understand why. The nobles who adhered to the teachings of the Holy Church, despite the influence of a suspicious power, had witnessed her character for themselves, acknowledged her as the “Saint,” and revered her.
That’s precisely why they noticed. They realized that the “Saint” they knew, her inner self, had been replaced by “something else.”
“Huh? What was I do-do-do-do-doing—”
As she tried to tilt her head, her neck bent sideways to an almost breaking point, and her right and left eyes began to move as if looking at different things. From beside her, the white-clad maid—Collette—softly whispered.
“Contractor-dono, you are to become ‘happy.'”
“—That’s right! I will become happy!”
Crrreak…
At those words, she twisted her already bent neck, and the joints, forced to turn her face, shrieked, making an unpleasant sound.
“I… I… I… Haaah— Don’t come inside meeeee!”
Her eyes, as she suddenly screamed, trembled violently. For a moment, her eyes, which had almost returned to sanity, rolled back completely, and in the next instant, she burst into shrill laughter again.
“Kyahahahahahahahahaha! That’s right! ‘I’ will become the heroine!”
Amidst that utterly bizarre scene, that “something” which had become her looked around and, spotting “me,” screamed my name.
“Aliciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
This voice, tinged with Madness… Seeing that expression filled with obsession, I understood the “true identity” of what had entered her.
“…It’s ‘That Woman,’ isn’t it.”
A long time ago, when I was young and knew nothing, That Woman, who possessed memories of a past life, tried to take my place after I escaped the orphanage.
I gained fragmented knowledge when my blood touched the “Magic Stone” that sealed That Woman’s memories. Even so, the “knowledge” that flowed into me was only the knowledge That Woman had acquired in this world. The “essence” she was obsessed with, I had unconsciously rejected, so I wasn’t affected by it.
I crushed that Magic Stone as much as I could, but while the surface layer had become brittle, the core was too hard to break, and I had no choice but to throw it into a ditch.
I thought it would eventually weather away as long as it didn’t touch an open wound. But… thinking back now, the brittle part was probably the part from which I gained knowledge. That part had fulfilled its role. The remaining core was where That Woman’s essence was recorded, and it seems someone (・・) on the same wavelength picked up what remained, unweathered.
“Seize that woman!”
“Everyone, evacuate this place immediately!”
At that, Margrave Dandole, the Commander of the Knightly Order, raised his voice, and just as His Majesty the King had decided beforehand, ordered the graduates and general guests to evacuate.
At his voice, the security knights, who had been deployed in greater numbers just for this occasion, surged forward.
“Don’t approach carelessly!”
Seeing that, I instinctively tried to stop them. That Woman was bizarre, but that Collette was also clearly strange. Even aside from her hair having turned white, her very presence no longer felt “human.”
“Aria!”
Seeing my state, Elena issued an order to me, her guard, to resolve the situation. But before I could move, someone else did.
“—Flame Javelin—”
“!?”
At the fire magic unleashed from almost directly behind me, I, who was about to dash out, pushed Elena, who was beside me, down to make her duck.
“Karla!”
“Fufu.”
Karla laughed at my shout, and her Flame Javelin shot across the venue, directly hitting Collette, who was shielding That Woman.
BOOOM!
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?”
“Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Scattering flames and heat. With attack magic capable of killing someone unleashed in such a place, the commoner nobles, jolted back to their senses, screamed and fled in confusion, and the knights who caught the aftermath of the flames up close also rolled around on the floor.
“Cruel person…”
Collette, who had blocked the flames with her left arm, created a new arm from Worms to replace her carbonized one, all while turning her dark eyes towards Karla. Karla also floated lightly into the air, smiling down at Collette from the high ceiling, about three stories up.
Is that ability the same power as Amor’s? If so, then she is—
“You’re a ‘demon,’ aren’t you…”
Karla’s clear voice flowed unimpeded through the chaotic venue. Those who heard it stopped in their tracks for a moment, and those who understood its meaning stared wide-eyed.
For the past year or so, the Royal Capital had lived in fear of the demonic threat. But there was someone who could repel them, and with the Holy Church putting the Saint at the forefront, people weren’t crushed by anxiety.
However, the one who had invited that demon into the Royal Capital… into the castle, was that very Saint.
Collette is a demon? The adventurer girl I met in that town… Her figure disappeared partway through, but was she a demon from the very beginning?
“Magician Division, forward! Suppress it!”
At that moment, a voice rang out, and the Head Court Magician on the dais—Count Lester—gave orders to his subordinates.
“I don’t care if my daughter gets caught in it!”
At such heartless words, the Magicians didn’t hesitate and unleashed water and wind attack magic, aiming to engulf Karla.
Collette, still holding That Woman whose behavior remained erratic, leaped back, while Karla deflected the magic with a wind defense.
“…Father, what is the meaning of this?”
“Hmph. Those words don’t sound like they’re coming from you, who tried to involve Her Highness the Princess. You can die as a cornerstone for the royal family. That should be your dearest wish, wouldn’t you say?”
To Karla, who asked with narrowed eyes, her father, Count Lester, spat back words filled with hatred.
“Stop it! Count Lester, Miss Karla, this is no time for fighting!”
At that, His Majesty the King, who had stepped forward as if to shield Elena and me as we lay on the floor, raised his voice, trying to admonish the father and daughter.
But—
“I shall do as I please. After all, the ‘actors’ have finally gathered.”
Karla spoke calmly and turned her gaze, which had been on her father and His Majesty, back to Collette.
“And you, are you fine just like that? Don’t you need ‘supporting characters’ too?”
What did those words mean? Hearing them, Collette gave a distorted smile and spoke to the woman beside her.
“Contractor-dono… there is someone who will steal YOUR happiness. Are YOU alright with THAT?”
At that moment, the movements of the woman, who had been repeating bizarre words and actions, stopped. She turned her dull eyes, as if swiveling her eyeballs, to Collette.
“No! No, no, no, no! Kill Karla! Bring Alicia to me! The one who will become the queen of this country is me!!”
Hearing the words of the woman, who was shrieking as if foaming at the mouth, Collette beamed with a wide smile.
“—As you wish—”
In the next moment, an immense amount of magical power and Miasma overflowed from Collette, and life force began to drain from the girl possessed by That Woman.
No, it wasn’t her life that was disappearing. What was being consumed was her original “soul.”
“—————————————————————————!!”
Collette let out a scream that no human could comprehend, and the decorative stained-glass windows covering one entire wall shattered. The fragments rained down on the commoner guests who were late to escape, and beyond those windows, now a scene of pandemonium, I could see chaotic magical power rising from a building.
Crack! A sound like something cracking echoed from afar—
“—I’ll help you out.”
Karla launched multiple fireballs towards it.
Several fireballs flew as if tearing through the night sky, engulfing the roof of that building in an inferno.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
An explosion roared from the distance, and the commoner guests who were still unharmed looked in that direction and let out scream-like cries.
“The temple!?”
In that direction was the Holy Church’s temple. And on its roof was…
“Amor…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
A scream came from the direction of the temple. No, as an inhuman, beastly roar echoed, a giant humanoid figure began to move from within the blazing flames.
Amor had been defeated by Karla on top of the temple. His remains were frozen solid, not melted, but Karla had only frozen him, not delivered the finishing blow. And the demon was trying to use that?
But that was no longer Amor. It was a monster that merely retained Amor’s Magic Stone. As proof, that Worm monster wasn’t coming this way; it had leaped off the temple roof and begun attacking the residents.
“Aria, go! Don’t worry about us!”
“…Understood.”
Confirming that the Royal Guard knights were forming a perimeter around the royalty, I nodded to Elena and leaped away from her side.
First, I should stop Collette, but I can’t just leave Amor either. I’ve had Dolton-tachi on standby for unforeseen circumstances, but I don’t know how many residents will be sacrificed before my companions arrive.
“Tch!”
However, just as I was about to rush out, someone attacked me as if to stop me.
“Aliciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
That Woman! The physical abilities of that girl, “Licia,” who she was based on, should have been low, and her mana value should have dropped to an almost imperceptible level, yet her attack was sharp enough to halt my movements.
【Name: Unknown】【Race: Human ♀】【Rank: –】
【Mana Value: 542/0】【Stamina Value: 120/173】
【Total Combat Power: — (Physical Enhancement active: –)】
Her base mana value is 0? The fact that she has mana… is it because a devil had stored mana in that Magic Stone? I can’t determine her combat power, but she’s using Physical Enhancement that ignores her body’s limits, causing her bones to crush and blood to spurt out with even slight movements.
“Where are you going, Aria-san?”
Floating right behind her was the one controlling her.
“Collette!”
The devil wearing Collette’s skin smiled at me, who was glaring at it, with the exact same face as when we met in that town.
“…Were you a devil from the start?”
“Fufu… Thank you for dealing with my ‘children (devils).'”
The smile she wore as she said that, while filled with a mercy unbecoming of a devil… was overflowing with a devil’s characteristic Madness.
This is what’s terrifying about devils. The horror of devils isn’t their great power or cruelty.
Even weak devils do not fear their own destruction; they even find joy in the destruction of their comrades, betray everything for the sake of pleasure, and would likely cheer even for their own demise if it served that purpose.
Collette was a devil from the start. I don’t know where she was replaced, but by the time I met her, she was already a devil.
From her mimicry ability and how she treated the bone devil and the Faceless Devil like children, I surmise this devil is older than those two.
“Playing just the two of you is unfair.”
At that moment, radial flames swept out, engulfing the venue behind Collette, who dodged, and the people who were too slow to escape.
“–The black-haired… woman!”
“Play with me too.”
Collette, having been interrupted, unleashed a Flash Blade of mana, and the raging aftermath of mana erupted as Karla caught it with a lightning strike.
“Aliciaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
Meanwhile, That Woman kept attacking while screaming.
I took out hidden weapons from my Shadow Storage and slashed at her arms and neck, but Worms filled the wounds, preventing them from being fatal.
Was it Collette’s ability that changed Amor too…? If Collette was also the true identity of the “Dream” in that town, then are these Worms the cause of her manipulating the dead through Dreams and creating Undead?
“Give her to me, give yourself to me! I’m going to be the happiest oneeeee!”
“Kuh!”
Due to the excessive use of her body, her muscles tore, and her bones shattered. Her movements were fast, but still only based on physical ability. But at this rate, I won’t be able to stop Amor either.
The moment I felt a surge of panic, a powerful presence and Killing Intent erupted from beneath my feet.
“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
A giant black form leaped out from my Shadow, its claws sending That Woman flying.
“Nero!”
Nero, while lurking in my Shadow, hadn’t tried to get involved in conflicts between humans. He’s here to protect me, not to protect people.
But, the reason Nero showed himself was…
“Graa…”
Nero looked outside the castle. In that direction was the burning temple of the Holy Church, and even now, people’s screams could be heard.
Did he understand my intention, or was it to settle things with the “prey (Amor)” he let escape once?
“I’m counting on you, Nero.”
–Understood–
Leaving those words behind, Nero leaped out of a destroyed window and headed towards the temple. My eyes followed him as he went.
“Ouchii!”
That Woman, sent flying by Nero, stood up in her bloodstained dress. Her chest had been deeply gashed by Nero’s claws, but those wounds were also closing up as if Worms were filling them.
“Aliciaaaaa, I finally found youuuuu! I’m going to become you! So that I can be happy, nininininini—”
Her face, which had been wearing a mad smile upon finding me, changed expression as if broken from the impact of the attack. As her spinning eyes looked at me, a single tear flowed from one eye, an eye from which the Madness had vanished.
“…”
Is Licia’s heart still remaining?
It’s probably not that That Woman’s soul remained from the start, but rather that the memories of That Woman’s obsession are merely overwriting Licia’s soul.
Even so, it seems that the substance known as a Magic Stone cannot perfectly seal memories or feelings, and I could sense her soul suffering from the incompletely smeared obsession.
“…I understand.”
I have no obligation to show you mercy. If you picked up that Magic Stone and have been using its “knowledge,” then I, who also gained knowledge from a similar Magic Stone, am the only one who would understand. What you’ve done so far wasn’t because you were manipulated by the Magic Stone, but by your own will, right?
I have no obligation to save you. However… I also owe That Woman.
I untied the ribbon on the right side of my asymmetrical black dress and readied the knife and dagger that had been strapped to my freed right leg.
There’s no mercy. But—
“I will be the one to kill you.”
This time, the subtitle is “Obsession.”
To those who gave me ideas, thank you very much!
Next time, Aria and the source of the evil… I’ll think of the title later lol.
It seems sales for both book volume 3 and comic volume 1 are good, thank you very much!