“...”

“...”

Whenever and wherever these two were together, a suffocating silence always seemed to emerge.

Such thought occupied Faenol’s mind as she alternated her gaze between Sullivan and Eleanor, who was silently glaring at each other.

Though they gathered here out of necessity, it was still hard for Faenol to stay in the same room with those two. Mostly because she still couldn’t adapt to such a tense atmosphere.

Nonetheless, she was a genius mage even among the powerhouses of the entire continent. Even in such an uneasy ambience, she still managed to fulfill the task she had to undergo.

“...All preparations are complete.”

Faenol said as she stepped back from the barrier she had created.

Yuria, who was in a deep slumber with her eyes tightly closed, was laid in its center.

Ever since the First Ordeal ended, when both her and Dowd lost consciousness, she had not opened her eyes even once.

Sullivan, who had been quietly observing her, turned around to look at Eleanor.

“...As I have explained before, what you need to do is simple. If you are ready, just step onto the Transmission Array placed in the center of this barrier.”

“From my understanding, while it’s an easy thing to grasp, it isn’t necessarily easy to achieve, Chancellor.”

Eleanor said in a flat tone, which prompted a bitter smile on Sullivan’s face.

She was right.

There was a reason why Sullivan even mentioned the possibility of it reaping her life when she first called upon her.

“Have you fully understood the risks involved, Lady Tristan?”

“No.”

“...”

Upon hearing her shamelessly confident reply, Sullivan clamped her mouth shut.

“To be perfectly honest, Chancellor, everything that you said went in one ear and went out the other. It was all too far-fetched of a theory.”

“...”

“Then again, it isn’t like I need to know much, don’t you think so too?”

Eleanor let out a sigh before continuing.

“Dowd is in danger. It might be a risk to my own life, but you need me to save him. That’s enough of a reason for me.”

“...”

She wasn’t wrong, but…

There were still things that needed to be properly straightened out.

“...You can’t take this matter lightly, Lady Tristan.”

Sullivan continued with a sigh.

“Within here is an Image World constructed by the White Devil. A place where mortals of the Material Realm shouldn’t even dare to approach. Inside, the power that the White Devil holds is no different than a god’s.”

That certainly was true.

Faenol inwardly conceded with a bitter smile.

The White Devil was known to have the most dominant ‘mental’ Authority even among the Devils.

After all, controlling minds was the core of the being’s Authority.

What they were doing was essentially ‘forcibly shoving’ Eleanor into such a space to retrieve Dowd.

It was a plan so absurd that only those out of their minds could ever come up with it, let alone agree to it.

“...Given that you are capable of hosting the most powerful entity even among the Kings of Pandemonium, your chances of holding your ground are considerably high. This is why we are requesting you to do it. There’s no one else but you who can do it.”

Eleanor’s expression crumpled slightly at her words.

Devil. Kings of Pandemonium.

Both the unidentifiable Cursed Speech User and Chancellor Sullivan had mentioned such terms.

Telling her that something like that was harbored inside her body.

And how that something was somehow related to her mother.

Furthermore…

As far as Eleanor knew…

There was only one person who knew the full truth behind all these claims.

Someone who was likely entangled in everything related to such a topic.

‘...Duke Tristan.’

 

Gideon Galestead La Tristan.

Her father.

The next time they met…

Eleanor swore that she’d try to find out exactly what all that meant.

She was quietly lost in such thoughts when another sentence flew her way.

“At any rate, you must brace yourself. Even though they were both Devils, your safety still isn’t guaranteed since you are dealing with a different—”

Just before Sullivan could continue her words, Yuria’s body suddenly twitched.

Given her complete lack of movement until this moment, this was a rather dramatic reaction coming from her. That was why everyone’s body turned frozen stiff as they watched her closely.

Not long after that…

 

-!

-!!

As if trying to declare that she didn’t move for no reason, the barrier Faenol had deployed started to violently shake.

So much so that the expressions of all three women inside the room were instantly filled with alarm.

“...Faenol. This…?”

At the Chancellor’s question, Faenol hurriedly inspected the barrier.

Then, she replied in a grave tone.

“...It seems something serious is happening inside.”

“Something serious?”

“I’m not sure what exactly it is, but what I’m sure of is that the creator of this Image World is extremely angry. If this continues…”

Faenol trailed off.

It was as if she could not bear to voice the following words.

“...The Image World might be completely distorted… And Dowd Campbell’s soul could be destroyed forever.”

“...!”

Sullivan and Eleanor’s eyes widened simultaneously.

“...Then I must go in immediately.”

At Eleanor’s words, Faenol added urgently.

“Please wait a moment, Lady Tristan. The situation is too unstable for you to go, you will definitely die if you do. I’ll calm the barrier down as quickly as I can, so—”

“Won’t the probability of him getting hurt increase while you are stabilizing the barrier?”

“...Yes, but his odds are better than yours. If you dive in right now, it’s a certain death for you.”

Despite Faenol’s urgent warning…

Eleanor just shrugged her shoulders and replied nonchalantly.

“Then, let us just hedge our bets on me dying.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Better that than the increasing probability of that man’s death.”

With those words…

Eleanor dashed into the violently shaking barrier.

“...”

“...”

‘That crazy bitch.’

Those words came to both Sullivan and Faenol’s mind.

!!!!!! Warning !!!!!!

[ You have broken ‘character’! ]

[ A penalty will be given! ]

[ The chance of escaping from the Image Space is significantly reduced! ]

At the same time that message appeared before my eyes, screams poured out from all directions.

“YOUR HOLINESS! YOUR HOLINESSSSSS-!”

“Call the physician! A-Activate the s-security system!”

As the Pope’s head rolled on the floor, chaos erupted all around, accompanied by a symphony of screams.

Then, throughout the mansion, armed personnel, various types of Attack Spells, Graces, and Homunicli that had turned hostile…

And so on, and so on…

So many things going on at once, I couldn’t even grasp what was what anymore.

Well, the one thing that was clear was the fact that the entire mansion had turned into my enemy.

“...Mr… Servant…?”

I heard Yuria’s voice as she stared blankly at me.

“Look, My Lady.”

I turned to her, letting out a gentle smile.

“Do you know what is far more hellish than being left all alone in the world?”

“...Excuse me?”

“Being surrounded by people who make you feel alone.”

“...”

Yuria’s eyes widened.

“So…”

I continued with a chuckle.

“...From now on, I shall remove such obstacles for you.”

Honestly, I didn’t intend to go this far.

But fuck it, I hated everything here.

Young Yuria. The environment that seemed to imprison and ‘rear’ her. And the attitude of those who seemed to despise her.

Every.

Single.

Thing.

I hated them all.

Because it reminded me of my ‘past’.

“...”

I took a deep breath and grasped Severer.

Thanks to the copied skill, the burden on my body felt lighter than expected.

Let’s see, what I needed to do was to prevent a tragedy to befall Yuria, right?

Since that was the case, I had a simple method to solve everything.

Kill them all before she killed them,

“You will not die peacefully, you damn traitor!”

“Everyone, surround them! We must capture them alive!”

Them trying to capture us alive didn’t mean they were trying to show us mercy. They just wanted to make us suffer before killing us.

System Message

[ A moment of danger has been detected.]

[ Determined the situation as life-threatening. ]

[ Skill: Desperation raised to EX-Grade. ]

System Message

[ ‘Tristan Style Swordsmanship’ is applied. ]

[ The proficiency and power of your swordsmanship has increased! ]

System Message

[ ‘Curse of Severance’ is currently applied! ]

Since I wasn’t holding Soul Linker, my mana reserves couldn’t be supplemented, so I couldn’t use any divine-related skills.

But if this was just a simple melee combat, with the skills I had access to right now, there weren’t many people who could match me. Not even the powerhouses.

Considering that I even possessed the Curse of Severance that was able to decapitate the Pope in an instant…

-!

With just a single slash…

The line that the sword drew ‘sliced away’ a part of the mansion.

All people within the range were swept away as well, turning into little chunks of flesh.

Normally, you’d need Eleanor-level stats to be able to change the scenery with just a swing of the sword. But with the combination of Severer, Desperation and Tristan Style Swordsmanship, I managed to mimic something similar to that.

“M-Monster…!”

“What in the world is that…!”

I heard such screams and remarks clearly, but…

Instead of responding to them, I just sliced through everyone like I was cutting meat.t.

Fountains of blood sprayed and human flesh flew everywhere, making me feel somewhat nauseous. But honestly, I wasn’t all that affected.

It would probably be different if this was reality, but this was just an Image World.

Basically, it was nothing more than an illusion created by the White Devil.

There was just one problem, though.

It was clear that a certain someone was really displeased with what I was doing.

!!!!!! Warning !!!!!!

[ Return to your ‘role’ immediately! ]

[ Return to your ‘role’ immediately! ]

[ Return to your ‘role’ immediately! ]

[ Return to yo- ]

The size of the red window in front of me grew larger and larger.

It almost seemed like it was screaming at me.

However, I just ignored it and continued to slash.

To cut, to kill, to splatter blood all around me.

Then, soon after…

System Messa-

Just as another Message Window was about to appear…

[Mate, what are you doing?]

It got ‘intercepted’ by something.

Following that…

‘Everything’, including myself, came to a halt.

As if a transcendent being had intervened.

“...”

I inwardly let out a sigh.

Originally, only the Grey Devil could do these kinds of things, but within a ‘world of their own creation’, there was a punk who might be capable of similar actions.

[I am fairly certain I told you to maintain your role, didn’t I?]

Along with those words…

A ‘Devil’ emitting a blinding white light tore through space and popped out before me.

It was the White Devil, assuming Yuria’s form.

“...”

There we go.

This was what I had been waiting for.

I knew if I caused enough of a shitfest, this punk would come by.

Her piercing eyes glowed fiercely. While maintaining a cold gaze that seemed to chill my heart just by seeing it, the being approached me.

Then, after lifting my chin, she forced me to look into her eyes.

[I shall allow you to speak, so tell me. Why did you ignore the warning?]

At the same time, my ability to move returned slightly.

I could barely open my mouth, but I still managed to somehow spit out a sentence.

“It was suffocating.”

[...What?]

“Why place such restrictions like a ‘role’ in the first place?”

The White Devil’s face twitched at my words.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? If you wanted to prevent something from happening to Yuria, there was no need for such constraints. It only limits the range of actions I can take, it also doesn’t fit the goal.”

[...]

“And why bother going out of your way to emphasize it to me?”

What exactly she was planning, I couldn’t say.

But her concern for Yuria was genuine. Creating this Image World and ‘reforming’ Yuria’s past to induce some positive effect was evident.

However…

Regarding this role…

“You have an ulterior motive, don’t you?”

If she didn’t…

She wouldn’t need to impose such restrictions on me.

There was only one function that could be expected as a result of that.

It allowed the White Devil to naturally ‘anchor’ me to the world she created…

To manipulate me however she pleased.

In the case of the White Devil, known for her intense obsession and desire to control even among the Devils, providing such a ‘pretext’ meant the fallout could be unpredictable.

[...]

The White Devil’s face continued to twitch.

[...I…]

After a prolonged silence, she barely managed to open her mouth.

While grinding her teeth, she opened her mouth.

[Just wanted to change you.]

“Change what?”

[...The future you are heading towards. The past of the Vessel I inhabit.]

“...What is that supposed to mean?”

[...]

She fell silent again.

This time, the silence lasted much longer

Then, she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

As if to shake off an unwelcome memory. One that she never wished to recall again.

[...Be quiet. At any rate, you have violated the restriction I set.]

With that, the White Devil raised her hand towards me.

[That means I can rightfully strip your soul of its ownership. And that wouldn’t even constitute a breach in our… ‘agreement’.]

“...”

…Agreement?

Another incomprehensible term was thrown out.

But given the atmosphere, it seemed unlikely she’d explain anything to me.

Demonic Aura started to gather in her hand.

[...Though the method was not what I expected…]

She muttered quietly.

[This time, we can finally be together for—]

However, before she could even finish her sentence…

 

-!

 

-!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The space…

Was warped, twisted, and shattered…

Then, it was ‘swept away’.

Pure darkness took its place in our surroundings, akin to the abyss I had seen when I first entered here.

As if someone’s ‘arrival’ had completely destroyed the Image World.

[What…!]

A cry of astonishment escaped the White Devil’s lips.

In an Image World that she created using her mental power, she should be able to hold full control over it.

That should be an undeniable fact, an unshakeable truth.

After all, what kind of existence could possibly tear through and enter with such ease?

So, when the horrified punk turned around…

“You.”

There…

Stood a familiar face.

“[What were you intending to do with Dowd?]”

With those words…

A grey aura started to explode around us.