“Get off me—!”

The Red Devil’s voice, filled with anger, echoed in the space.

Her burning gaze was fixed on me.

“You…”

Her voice sounded like a growl.

Like a roar of an agitated beast.

“Speaking as if you know about me…!”

I knew about you though.

Well, my knowledge was limited to the things written in her settings, but still…

[...She’s really mad at you.]

Of course she is.

A fucker she had never seen before suddenly appeared, stole a kiss from her, then spewed nonsense about how he’d make her happy and shit, it was understandable that she’d get angry.

Anyway, don’t you think it’s fascinating, Caliban?

[What is?]

How the Devils are doing things that are similar to what humans do.

Pretty sure I said something like this to the Fist Saint once.

How the things called the Devils…

Were more similar to humans than we thought.

That was why, the thing that I was trying to do was going to work, no matter what.

“...Enough. I’m sick of dealing with you.”

As I was occupied by my own thoughts, the Image World’s appearance began to change drastically.

“Struggle until you die, you bug-like human…”

My surroundings began to wriggle, as if it was trying to envelop me and swallow me.

However…

System Message

[ ‘Fallen’s Seal’ reacts to the presence of a Devil! ]

[ The target’s Aura is hostile. The inhabiting Auras automatically resist! ]

Contrary to what she wanted, barely anything happened to me.

Instead, the Seal on my chest shone. A murky light came out of the Seal, blocking all the red light that was coming at me.

Seeing this, her eyes slightly widened.

“...Gray…”

She then gritted her teeth.

“She engraved a Seal on a human? What the heck was she thinking?”

“Well...”

I let out a sigh.

Honestly, I had no idea as well.

I knew that this Seal thing wasn’t merely an amazing ability that could change my ‘species’, but it was also filled with all kinds of abilities.

But… I had a feeling that there was another important, yet hidden ‘ability’ within it.

It was as if groundwork had been laid for a very important situation that would happen later.

…Anyways.

That wasn’t important. The important thing here was…

“Now you know that I won’t die as easily as you thought.”

You see, I wasn’t crazy enough to go against a Devil completely defenseless.

This Seal had eaten the Auras of the White Devil, the Gray Devil, the Purple Devil and the Blue Devil. It could give me enough time to resist for a moment even if I were to encounter a Devil’s main body in the Image World.

“...So, why don’t we have a small talk?”

“...”

I asked the Red Devil, who gave me a silent glare.

From the way it looked, she seemed to plan on letting me babble as much as I wanted before the Seal’s effect ran out since she would be able to kill me by then.

[...You're trying to defeat the Devil only with that?]

Who said I'm going to defeat her?

I let out a smirk.

Dude, I came here to talk to her.

Not to fight her.

“...Whatever, babble all you want.”

The Red Devil's eyes shone as she crossed her arms.

Her dark red irises twinkled with a wicked glow.

“Once that thing stops working, I’ll immediately kill you and rip your soul apart. Then, I’ll continue everything as scheduled. Those small fries outside won’t be able to stop—”

“So you’re going to burn the whole world and left Faenol alone in that world?”

“...”

The Red Devil frowned before closing her mouth.

My words hit the bull’s eye—that was exactly what she was trying to do.

Like I said, the first thing this punk would do once she found the Devil’s main body in the Void zone was to turn the world into ashes.

The reason for that was…

“...It's better to be alone than to get hurt.”

So that nobody would hurt Faenol.

‘Like before’.

She was trying to erase the possibility of that happening.

The first place she belonged to, the small village in the countryside.

And the second place she belonged to, the Magic Tower.

Both places had evidently left memories that were close to a trauma for Faenol.

From what I knew, back in the game…

The things they did to Faenol were so horrible to the point that the Red Devil would decide that ‘it would be better to burn everything down rather than letting her get hurt again’.

This was also the reason why I couldn’t treat this punk harshly as soon as I saw her.

But, still…

“I won’t let you do that no matter what.”

“...”

“Because I want her to know that this world is such a wonderful place. That’s one of the reasons why I told her that I’ll ‘make her happy’.”

I wanted to teach her about the world.

To teach her that just as something horrible could happen to her, something wonderful could also happen to her.

This was something that a certain someone had taught me in the past.

“...Ridiculous.”

The Red Devil replied while sweeping her hair back.

“What do you understand about what kind of pain Faenol had suffered? How she crawled around in the mud—”

“I…”

With a calm voice, I cut her words off.

“...Was abandoned as soon as I was born. They found me in a trash can with my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck.”

“...”

“That was the first thing that happened in my life. So I know how it feels when life is trying to screw you over.”

From now on…

I would convince this punk.

Defeating the Red Devil would be pointless. Unless I could tell her what the real ‘happiness’ was, everything would be meaningless.

And in order to do that, I needed to open this punk’s heart first.

That was why…

“...Hear me out for a moment. Just for a moment.”

It’d be okay to ‘show’ it to this punk.

“Please listen to this old story of mine.”

My old story…

●

Archbishop Luminol had experienced all kinds of hardships before he could even become an Archbishop of the Holy Land.

That was why, he could say for sure…

The guy called Dowd Campbell was the most pitiful man in the world.

“Wait, what? I said I’m the 91st one, you know?”

“Sure, in your dreams.”

A blue-haired woman swung her fist that was covered by a gauntlet, called out to another woman who was wielding a pair of daggers.

Even as they were having such a conversation, the Pandemonium Life Forms around them collapsed one after another, like fallen leaves in autumn.

“...Are you guys sure you aren’t getting along well with each other?”

Lady Tristan made such a remark. Beside her was a black-haired woman who looked just as formidable as her.

Despite them having different ways to use a sword, the dignity of a master level could be felt from the tips of their swords. One could clearly feel the depths of their power.

“...Please, I beg you to refrain from saying something like that even as a joke, Senior Eleanor.”

“Agreed!”

As the four of them cooperated and continued to fight, while having such a weird conversation among them, piles of dead bodies kept on accumulating around them.

Actually, instead of fighting, it felt more like they were just playing around.

“Um, Father?”

“What’s wrong, Lana?”

“...I came to help because I heard that this is a world-ending crisis, but…”

Lana Rei Delvium scratched her head, looking as if she was at a loss.

“Do they really need our help?”

“...”

Instead of answering, Archbishop Luminol only stroked his chin silently.

None of the more dangerous Life Forms came out of the Gate except for the Hell Guard, but, as Lana said, the situation was a world-ending disaster in itself.

He still couldn’t believe that the Dimension Gates to the Pandemonium were opened. Many people would go crazy if they were to hear about it.

That was why…

He was left dumbstruck after seeing these women taking care of that situation ever so easily.

…I even feel sympathy towards that guy.

That guy was a man who had done terrible things to his daughter, but he couldn’t help but feel bad about him.

He had heard that these women were quite literally fighting over him.

A life surrounded by such people, a life where one had to walk on such a tightrope while being wary of them—was such an unimaginably horrible life in Luminol’s eyes.

“...Keep on your toes, kid.”

But that was that.

He turned his gaze to the Red Devil’s Vessel inside the column of fire.

The real problem was the woman over there.

Ever since Dowd came into contact with her, she had been staying motionless while curling her body up in the air.

If one were to look closely at her eyes, it was clear that they had lost their focus, as if she had lost her mind.

One could assume that Dowd had overpowered her, but seeing how the Dimension Gates didn’t show any sign of closing and how the column of fire was not dying down, it didn’t seem to be the case at all.

If they were to let this situation be…

The Seraphim’s Barrier would likely be damaged.

“Hero Candidate, are you ready yet?”

“...Not yet!”

Iliya answered irritably as she held the Holy Sword with both her hands.

She wasn’t just holding it, rather, she seemed like she was trying to inject her Magic Power into it, as if trying to ‘connect’ the Holy Sword with something.

“Don’t talk to me! Teach told me I have to ‘communicate’ with the Holy Sword by any means…!”

“...Sorry, but I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”

The Holy Sword contained the power of none other than the Angels of the Astral Realm.

So, there was no way that she’d be able to awaken it only by moving her Magic Power around like that.

“Why don’t you give me a hint or something then?!”

“...You’re the first person who didn’t end up dying after holding it, yet there was no Bright Light emitted by it, so it’s hard for me to help you out. If the Bright Light was there at least, I would’ve been able to help you guess the clue…”

Hearing that, Iliya paused and looked at Archbishop Luminol.

“...Earlier…”

She then said while hesitating.

As if it was something that was hard to say.

“Um… I think…when I thought about Teach…it kinda…shone…”

Archbishop Luminol’s eyes widened.

“...Then, why don’t you just start from there? You were thinking about that man, right? So, what kind of thoughts did you have that made the Bright Light come out?”

“...”

A light blush appeared on her cheeks as she took a deep breath for a moment.

She then closed her eyes tightly before stammered in a quiet voice,

“...When I came to realize that…um…Teach is a precious person to me…the sword...let out the light…”

“Oh!”

Suddenly.

Lana exclaimed.

“...It shone just now.”

At Lana’s words, Iliya opened her eyes and glared at the Holy Sword.

“…What?”

“I saw it shining slightly when Miss Iliya was talking about him just now.”

“...”

Iliya scanned the Holy Sword from top to bottom with a dumbfounded look.

This thing…?

Shone?

When she said something about him?

“Why don’t you try it again?”

“...What?”

Iliya replied, as if finding Lana’s words absurd, but the latter just tilted her head, probably thinking that Iliya was the strange one here.

“I mean, the Sword reacted after you acted like a maiden-in-love at the thought of Mr. Dowd. So, why don’t you continue doing that to see if it’s related?”

“...A-Are you kidding me…?!”

Iliya blurted out while shaking, but Archbishop Luminol replied hurriedly.

“I believe her words are true, I swear on my title as an Archbishop that the light just now was the Bright Light of the Holy Sword!”

“...”

“Now, try to piece it together that way. Quick!”

Seeing how his face was so serious, without even a hint of playfulness, Iliya’s face blushed rapidly.

“U-Ugh…”

“Hang in there Miss Iliya! But, you have to do it right now!”

With their continued urge, Iliya finally managed to open her mouth while trembling in embarrassment.

“T-To me… Teach is… A very cool person…”

At that moment, a faint Light came out from inside the Holy Sword.

An extremely faint light to be exact.

“Um, it’s shining, but it’s not enough! State your feelings more clearly!”

“W-Well… I-I think h-he’s cool… S-Sometimes, when he flashed his smile at me, I could feel my heart just melt right there and then…”

The flickering light appeared again.

However, its brightness was still far from being enough.

“More! We need something a little bit more intense!”

“S-Something more intense than this…?!”

“Yes! Miss Iliya, how much do you like Mr. Dowd?!”

At Lana’s shout, Iliya’s eyes began to tremble.

“I-If you ask me how much… U-Um…”

“Do you love him?!”

Her eyes trembled even more now.

“Y-Yes…! I-I love him!”

As soon as she said that, the faint light on the Holy Sword appeared again.

After confirming that this was working, Lana exclaimed an ‘Oh’. Perhaps something clicked in her head since her words became even bolder after that.

“Then, if you love him, you must’ve dreamed of marrying him! How many kids do you want to have with him?!”

“U-Um…? K-Kids?! M-Maybe three would be enough?”

“What gender do you want your first child to be?!”

“Aaa…aaa… I-I want my first child to be a girl!”

“What about your honeymoon? Where do you want to go? Beach? Hot spring? Resort?”

“...H-Hot spring!”

“Why is that? Be truthful!”

“B-Because Teach’s body is way nicer than I thought! I-I want to see it more!”

With the questions becoming bolder and bolder, Iliya’s answers also became bolder as she was clinging dearly to the last string that held her sanity together with trembling eyes.

“...”

“...”

Everyone around them slowly began to turn their attention to them, wondering what they were even doing.

Even Archbishop Luminol, who had told Iliya to think in this direction, was looking at the two of them with narrowed eyes.

However, since every time Iliya blurted out those bold answers, the Bright Light coming from the Holy Sword became stronger, he couldn’t just stop them in the middle.

A while after those two continued such questions and answers.

“Alright, last question! What do you want from Mr. Dowd!?”

“I want him to fuck me—!!!”

As if what they did was not in vain…

A radiant Bright Light burst forth from the Holy Sword, accompanying the words that came out of Iliya’s mouth that came out like a scream as tears filled her eyes. The cluster of lights intertwined, forming a complex symbol.

Seeing this, Luminol’s eyes widened.

“This is the Bright Light of a Seraphim…!”

Seraphim, the one who stood among all the Angels.

Their symbol was now being drawn above the Holy Sword.

“Father, is it working?”

“...It's on and off, but none of the previous Heroes had the Bright Light of a Seraphim emanating from the Holy Sword…!”

Iliya moved next to Archbishop Luminol, who was speaking as if he had made a groundbreaking discovery.

“...I…wanna die…”

Her quiet, sniffling voice, reverberated through the surroundings in a somber manner.