142. Martial Law (2)
“······What are you doing?”
Red eyes flashed in the darkness.
Mijung, who had been lying down, sat up and stared at me.
Was it because of her emotionless voice that showed no emotion?
It was a little creepy.
I felt like I was being scolded even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Did you sleep well?”
“······No.”
Was this the second time Mijung had fallen asleep?
After falling into Sister Gine’s······ no, Little Princess’s trap, it was the first time.
Other than that, she had never closed her eyes.
Mijung frowned, as if the experience of falling asleep after a long time was unpleasant.
It was very rare for Mijung to express her emotions so openly.
It seemed that she had a bad dream.
“······How did it happen?”
“I was hit by Transylvania’s magic. I was knocked out in an instant.”
“······I see.”
Mijung nodded as if she understood.
In fact, she was hit by her own mace after her power was reflected.
But I decided to spare Mijung’s pride a little.
“······Rather than that, what are you doing now?”
“I’m going to sleep now. Please watch over me while I’m awake.”
“······.”
That was good timing.
I think I can sleep peacefully now.
I relaxed all my tension and closed my eyes, hugging Mumin.
But I felt an uncomfortable gaze.
I know that Mijung always stares at me when I sleep.
But I felt much more uncomfortable than that, so I opened my eyes······
“Surprise.”
“······.”
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Mijung was lying upside down in front of my nose, staring into my eyes.
I was startled and shivered.
Mumin also groaned and burrowed into my arms.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you doing this?”
“······Today, I’m not going to sleep. Hug me?”
“Huh? It’s cold.”
“······I’ll warm you up.”
“What are you talking about?”
Mijung said something I didn’t understand.
I often hugged Mijung while sleeping.
On hot summer days, it was as cool as sleeping with an ice pack when Mijung was around.
But that won’t happen from now on.
Summer is almost over.
As autumn approaches, the Southern Continent is gradually getting colder.
Hugging Mijung in this weather means I want to freeze to death.
I don’t want to be a corpse with my companion, so I refuse to sleep with Mijung.
“······With fire magic. It’ll warm you up.”
“Even if you do, it’ll cool down again soon.”
“······If you keep warming it up. It’ll be fine.”
“Then your body will rot and fall apart.”
“······.”
Mijung fell silent, lost for words.
It seemed that she realized that there was no way.
No. There is a way.
Wait until next summer.
But Mijung didn’t seem to have that much patience, so she slipped behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“Why are you doing this? You’ve never hugged me first before.”
“······Just.”
Mijung buried her face in my back and answered bluntly in a muffled voice.
She ran away when I looked for her, saying she didn’t like it.
But when I said I didn’t need it, she came to me on her own.
She’s just like a cat.
A little, no, a very versatile cat.
“······It’s warm. I like it.”
“Is that so?”
Swish.
Mijung rubbed her cheek against my back and whispered.
As I was doing this, I realized that a lot of time had passed.When I first met her, Mijeong didn’t seem to have any emotions.
She only gave short answers when I spoke to her.
She didn’t even open her mouth unless I asked her something or if it was absolutely necessary for her daily life.
She also hardly expressed any emotions.
I even wondered if the part of her brain responsible for emotions had been blown away.
But as time passed and we spent more time together, I began to understand Mijeong a little.
Mijeong hadn’t lost her emotions.
She had just hidden them.
Perhaps she had hidden them because of a wound she had suffered in the past.
I didn’t ask her what the wound was.
And Mijeong never said anything about it herself.
I won’t ask her in the future either.
I don’t think Mijeong will say anything about it herself unless the right opportunity arises.
Knowing or not knowing doesn’t matter.
We can take care of each other’s wounds without necessarily knowing about them.
That’s how Mijeong’s emotions gradually came back to life.
These days, she expresses her emotions not only through words, but also through her face, which used to be expressionless.
It’s a huge improvement.
Only her heart is dead.
Mijeong’s mind is still alive.
Only her body is cold.
Mijeong’s heart is still warm.
I’m the only one who knows that.
Everyone else may think of Mijeong as a monster or a vampire.
But I’m the only one who knows that Mijeong is a human being.
“Mijeong.”
“······Yes.”
I smiled and grabbed Mijeong’s hand, which was wrapped around my waist.
A cold sensation was transmitted to my hand.
The chill that touched my back made me shiver.
Holding her tiny hand.
“Look at this, my dear.”
“······Ugh.”
She pushed me away.
It’s cold.
I’d rather hug a warm blanket and sleep.
I felt a fierce glare piercing me from behind.
***
On a beach at night, where the waves were crashing.
Bubbles gradually rose from the surface.
At one point, black smoke began to rise, pushing away the bubbles.
The seagulls that had been perched on the beach flew away in surprise.
The crabs scuttled away and burrowed into the sand.
The seaweed burned black and died.
-The supreme being who even rejects the judgment of the underworld. I, the great demon······-
In the darkness of the beach, where the clouds covered the moonlight.
An even deeper darkness began to spread.
In the smoke, a horned figure appeared, along with an eerie voice.
-Belphegor will appear in the mortal world-
The appearance of the great demon Belphegor alone scorched the beach.
The great demon’s eyes, filled with only darkness, began to tear open.
In the great demon’s right hand, which wore a sinister smile, was a blue heart.
The great demon caressed the heart, which was still beating strongly, as if it were something he loved.
-As expected, heaven helps those who help themselves-
Until now, I haven’t been able to focus on one place and have been paying attention to too many places.
I strengthened the monsters in the World Tree’s underground dungeon for Kali, but they were defeated in an instant.
When Luna made a fuss about resurrecting Kali, I helped her find a corpse to sacrifice, but then I received urgent news that there was a problem in Cologne.
In that case, it’s highly likely that there will be a problem with Solara’s recruitment as well.
This time, I was on my way to Cologne to deal with that problem.
In the end, the great demon decided that it was useless to help others.
He began to strengthen his own body.
This was the result.
The heart of a sea dragon.
-Look! If you help yourself, even the heavens that curse me will give you such a treasure!-Originally, I planned to get the heart of the sea dragon later.
It was such a bothersome and annoying task.
However, I can’t trust the other Four Heavenly Kings who are collapsing and falling one by one.
The Great Demon stopped supporting and immediately used the magic he had planted in the head of the sea dragon to take control of the sea dragon.
The control was fast.
The Great Demon, who took over the body of the sea dragon in just a month, turned the Dragon Palace into ruins and made the sea dragon commit suicide, thus obtaining the heart.
The Great Demon did not hesitate to start eating the heart of the sea dragon.
The heart continued to beat in the meantime, spraying blood everywhere.
The black shadow was smeared with red blood.
The Great Demon, who licked up even the blood that was stained on his hands and arms,
felt strength surging through his body.
-This is the power of the sea dragon······!-
It was Belphegor’s unique characteristic, ‘predation’.
The characteristic of taking away power from the heart of others.
With this, the Great Demon not only became more than twice as strong by simple calculation, but also became capable of fighting underwater.
It was the moment when Belphegor was filled with joy and laughed like crazy.
-Ahahahaha······! Huh?-
The black smoke swayed and sent a strange signal.
At this, Belphegor’s mouth closed again.
Magic that transcends dimensions.
There was only one being who could try to contact through this.
-Why······-
It’s been nearly 100 years since I’ve had any contact.
There was nothing special said even when the Four Heavenly Kings were replaced.
But why is he calling me out of the blue at this timing?
The Great Demon, who pondered over his memories, could not easily come up with an answer.
I couldn’t get a sense of it.
However, finding out the reason wouldn’t make any difference.
I have no choice but to answer the call.
The Great Demon took a deep breath and gathered black smoke at his fingertips.
A pitch-black abyss appeared inside it.
As Belphegor stepped forward, his body was sucked into it.
-Gasp······-
A sense of oppression that felt like my whole body was being crushed.
And in a headache that felt like my head was going to burst at any moment, the Great Demon quickly knelt down.
And then quickly increased the number of his consciousnesses to hundreds, thousands, to disperse the pain.
This was a place where I couldn’t hold out without doing this.
If an ordinary human being entered, their body would burst and die immediately.
Even if an elf or a fairly extraordinary human being entered, they would surely go crazy soon.
Even Transylvania has been having seizures ever since he came here once, fearing ‘that person’ and all the Four Heavenly Kings.
The only place where the Great Demon can go back and forth in his right mind.
No. Even the Great Demon cannot be in his right mind the moment he makes eye contact with ‘that person’.
It was the other world.
-Did you call me-
The Great Demon asked cautiously.
However, there was no answer for a long time.
Originally, language is something that doesn’t work for that person.
Instead of language, he communicates with ‘will’.
What I want, and what you want.
‘That person’ only wants to know these two things.
If each other’s wills coincide, that’s all.
Until now, there have been no specific instructions.
The Four Heavenly Kings, including the Great Demon, only knew that they should act without going against ‘that person’s’ will.
‘That person’, who was close to being a laissez-faire, what on earth did he call me for this time······.
The Great Demon felt sweat dripping down as he felt the consciousnesses he had divided in real time being consumed and disappearing one by one.
Even the Great Demon couldn’t last long here.
-Why······-
-Be calm and listen to my words. I will tell you what you need to do. You must obey my orders without question. Do you understand?-
-aaah!!!-In an instant, all of the Great Demon’s consciousness burst out.
The ‘being’ that was facing the Great Demon was clearly hostile towards him.
The Great Demon, who had barely gathered magic at his fingertips, managed to escape from the other world to the present world, leaving only one or two last consciousnesses before becoming a cripple.
-Ugh… Ugh…-
The Great Demon, who had regained consciousness, first began the task of erasing his memories from the other world.
He had to forget.
Forgetting was the way to live.
If he tried to remember it again, it would be a matter of seconds before he lost his mind.
The Great Demon succeeded in erasing all his memories, leaving only the necessary information.
He had forgotten everything about ‘his’ voice and the scenery of the other world.
He remembered only one thing.
‘He’ was angry.
He didn’t know why.
He didn’t understand the language.
But it was clear that he was very angry.
-What…?-
And the Great Demon noticed that there was a strange change in his body.
It was not a change that had occurred only to the Great Demon.
It was being applied to all monsters.
At that change, the Great Demon’s body trembled.
He could feel ‘his’ power slipping away.
-What the hell is this…!-
The Great Demon immediately realized what ‘he’ was trying to do.
Just as the Great Demon had abandoned the other Four Heavenly Kings because he did not trust them.
‘He’ was also trying to gather his strength and move on his own.