I stared at the Prophet blankly, only moving to blink my eyes.

It took quite a while for me to understand exactly what kind of bullshit she was saying.

“...What?”

“I'm saying let's kill the thing inside Lady Tristan's body. It won’t be a bad deal for you too, no?”

“...”

Hearing her saying it so casually once again confirmed that I didn’t hear it wrong.

“What are you on about?”

“...”

If she didn't know what a Devil was, then I would've assumed that she was just ignorant.

However, considering what this punk had done so far, there was no way in hell that she didn’t know jackshit about the Devils.

“...”

If anything…

Compared to me, who only knew about the Devils because of my knowledge of the game, it felt like she knew a lot more than I did.

As if she had ‘experienced’ them herself.

“We can kill Devils, you know that much, right?”

“...”

What she had just said proved it.

She was right. Well, you might be aware of it since the Final Boss of Sera was the Gray Devil herself. This heavily implied that the Devil could be ‘cleared’.

And the implication was correct, you could kill the Devils, as long as you met the conditions, that is…

As I silently glared at her, she continued with a shrug.

“Besides, the ones you’re trying to protect are the Devil’s ‘Vessels’, no? Not the Devils.”

And…

Just like that, she casually talked about the most important part.

She knew exactly the driving force behind why I always prepared for the upcoming incidents, even when I had to wreck my body here and there.

“Just think of those Devils as parasites that stick onto those Vessels. Ultimately, those dregs will only have a negative impact on the Material World anyway.”

“...”

“Also, because of your actions…the Vessels, the Hero, everything really, isn’t proceeding the way you thought it would. I’m just giving you the option to make the story ‘unfolds’ in the direction you want. Shouldn’t you thank me for that?”

I silently stared at her for a while.

Then, I said with a sigh.

“...Tell me, why are you trying to kill the Gray Devil?”

Right, this fucker had been particularly obsessed with Eleanor, hadn’t she?

She even went out of her way to use a whole chapter boss to divert my attention just to kill Eleanor back at the Forge of Struggle.

"If you know the reason, what are you gonna do with it?"

Laughter was mixed in her voice as she replied.

There was a heavy tone of sarcasm in that laugh, as if to say, ‘What can you do in this situation anyway?’

“You can’t use the Holy Sword and the Devil’s Vessels’ help won’t be able to solve the problem perfectly, considering the opponent is a Vessel bearing three Fragments. Do you even have another option if you were to reject my—”

“I—”

Before she could finish, I cut her off in a low voice.

“—Asked ‘why’ you want to kill the Devil.”

“...”

“Don’t you think it’s strange that those words even came out of your mouth?”

At my words, she went totally quiet.

For the first time, a crack formed on her relaxed demeanor.

“You said the other punks were changed because of me, right?”

This punk…

Said that Iliya, Elanor, and the other punks were all affected by the butterfly effect that I had created.

“But, the same goes for you, doesn't it?”

“...”

I continued as she stayed silent.

Actually, seeing her moves so far, there were a lot of things that I thought were strange.

Her title was the leader of the Devil ‘Worshipers’. In the original game, her moves were purely focused on trying to resurrect the Devils.

Her cunning tendency to move secretly was the same. But seeing how she was trying to openly coax me into killing a Devil, her disposition was extremely different from the Prophet in the original game.

And, if I were to guess…

There was a very simple, very basic reason for such a difference.

“You.”

I continued calmly.

“Are not the original ‘Prophet’, aren’t you?”

I could feel her breath stop at once.

Which meant I hit the bullseye.

“I don't know how you got to your position, there are so many possible scenarios that I could think of, however…”

I could sense her widening her eyes behind that mask.

From the atmosphere around her, I could feel that she was completely taken aback by my words.

“However it was, you aren’t the ‘original’, am I wrong?”

“...”

This punk, somehow, got to her position after she got rid of the ‘original Prophet’.

She wasn’t someone who existed in this world from the beginning, rather, she was one of the elements that changed as I entered this world.

“...”

And there was a high chance that…

This punk was one of the people I knew.

Although I wasn't completely sure who she was yet.

“...Back to the topic.”

I said with a sigh.

“First of all, I refuse your suggestion to kill the Devil.”

“...But why? Is there even a way for you to solve this situation?”

“Honestly, no.”

I could probably guess why she had made such a suggestion in the first place.

It was most likely…

Because something bad might happen to me in the future because of one of those Devils.

Since Sullivan and this punk…

Had shown several times that they were morbidly wary of the ‘other Devils’.

However…

“You said that the ones I want to protect are the Devil ‘Vessels’, right? Not the Devils themselves.”

And that their existence would only bring negative impacts on the Material World.

Well, that part was true.

They were so powerful that they could twist the world just by showing their faces. That was something that Eleanor—who only had two Fragments at the time—could do, let alone the Devils themselves.

However…

“But, the Devils have their own personalities, no?”

“...What?”

After the Prophet asked that bewilderedly, I continued in a calm tone.

“Just like humans, they are able to think, they have memories, they feel emotions. Am I wrong?”

“...”

“They said they like me. All of them did.”

Then…

My answer was already set in the stone.

“Since that’s the case, all of them are my women.”

“...”

I could feel the Prophet opening her mouth wide as she found my words ridiculous.

Then, I continued with a grin.

“So, don't touch them, or I'm going to kill you, okay?”

Silence.

The ensuing silence continued.

The Prophet stared at me silently. She didn't seem dumbfounded or angry, just completely bewildered.

[Oy, Boy King. Mister. Wake up!]

[Uh, oh, ooh? W-What's wrong?]

[Applause time! This bastard’s playboy level is peaking!]

“...”

_Caliban. _

_Please. _

Shut the fuck up.

“...Well then.”

I left the Prophet be as she was sitting there stunned and looked at the window popping up before my eyes.

It was about time.

System Message

[ Updating the Main Quest! ]

[ Entering the Final Chapter Branching Route! ]

[ Main Quest ]

〖 Chapter 4 - The Crimson Night 〗

[ Stop the ‘Red Devil’ from going berserk! ]

“I have to do anything I can about it.”

If the wind will not serve, take it to the oars.

As always, it was the time to wreck my body again.

●

“...So.”

Iliya awkwardly muttered while looking around.

Until just now, she had been feeling quite dispirited.

All day long, she had been stuck in her room, depressed, since the Holy Sword did not choose her to be its master. But now, she couldn’t afford to feel that way anymore—though, she didn’t know if it was a good thing or not.

Because…

“Why are you all here…?”

“Why are you all here…?”

She asked with a trembling voice, but nobody answered her.

Eleanor, Riru, Seras…

Surely, she had seen this lineup before somewhere.

…All of them are the Devil's Vessels…!

The air felt really heavy because every one of them wore stiff expressions and were all tense.

“Please, someone, say anything…!”

“Don’t be too hard on them. Everyone is preparing themselves here.”

Eleanor, who was sitting on the sofa while wiping her sword, said that.

While she looked the most relaxed among them all, her expression was also pretty stiff.

“...Preparing for what?”

“...Did the spirit not come to you?”

Spirit?

What kind of bullshit is she talking about?

As Iliya thought so with a perplexed expression, Eleanor only shrugged and replied.

“Whatever. Forget it if you don’t know. That’ll be one less competitor for me.”

“...”

The other women didn’t say anything, but they all seemed to agree to her words.

They were all nodding quietly, with stiffened expressions.

“But why did you all come into my room…!”

“...That is probably because you are the only person they are quite comfortable with. They seem to think this is the only place to kill time.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Just look at them. None of them has any social skills whatsoever, they don’t even have any friends in the same year as them.”

“...”

“And you are the only person they can talk to quite comfortably.”

“...”

That’s true.

Is lacking in social skills one of the requirements to be a Devil Vessel, I wonder?

“But, I still don’t understand anything here…”

Still, it did not make sense for them to do this without any explanations.

Especially…

Since one of them looked as if she was in an extremely serious condition.

“...”

Iliya looked at Yuria, who was sitting quietly in a corner of the room, with worried eyes.

It was actually Iliya’s first time seeing her after she caused Dowd to lose consciousness a while back.

On the outside, there seemed to be nothing wrong with her. She was only quietly reading the atmosphere, as always, without making her presence known.

However…

As someone with the Eye of Truth.

Someone who could see through someone else’s ‘nature’.

Iliya could see Yuria's exact condition.

_…It looks like she's almost on the verge of committing suicide. _

She was empty.

The girl who used to live the world properly even though timidly, was now perilous like a candlelight in the wind.

“...”

It got Iliya to think again.

What exactly was it that they were ‘waiting’ for to the point that even a girl in such a condition was here?

“At least give me a hint—”

Iliya was about to continue her words…

But, she stopped, since she didn’t need such an explanation anymore.

Because before her sentence even finished.

-!!

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

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

A huge flame.

Accompanied by a roar rang out in all directions, as if it were tearing the whole night apart.

“It has begun.”

As Eleanor said so with a low voice.

Iliya's eyes trembled as she glared outside the window at the column of fire rising up.

It was definitely…

A sight that was etched in her memory.

“...The Crimson Night?”

The night sky.

Was dyed red by the crimson flame.