218 – Afterwards (3)
In the previous episode Afterwards (2), the description of Irene’s mana at the beginning was modified. Sorry for posting an unedited version…
……………………………………………………………..
[The inconvenience caused by the loss of divine status? Doesn’t exist. Even without that, I can always feel Faust’s energy.]
[But isn’t there one or two? For example, the demons no longer serve you, the wolves whose divine power has disappeared.]
[Yes? Oh, how could you do that? I am the manager of Katara and the demons appointed by Faust.]
The meeting with Irine ended much sooner and more quickly than expected. It seems that Irene didn’t have much to say to me because she had been communicating with me in sentences about sharing her feelings.
Well, that’s right. If you have something to say, you can say it right away through Gong Yoo’s sentence, and if you miss me, you can feel me through Gong Yoo’s sentence.
[The demons know. Everything about what Faust has been doing so far.]
[…I see.]
[Yes, even if their divine status disappears, the demons will truly serve Faust. Even without Faust trying to reward us, we have already been rewarded with prosperity.]
Irene’s face as she said that… It was as if she had somehow awakened something in her.
When I left Katara after the incident involving Irene, Irene’s appearance in front of the stone statue carved with my image in the Great Temple, which did not exist at all, was truly the appearance of an agent of God.
…The fact that the god is me is quite annoying, but anyway.
[If you really want to do something like that… hehehe, can I come visit you tonight?]
[…Tonight?]
[Yes, there are some things that cannot be done with just a sentence of sharing emotions, right? I want to tell you all the things I haven’t said before.]
Irene strokes her own chin as if she is troubled by my repeated requests, but soon after, she gently covers her mouth and says her own request.
When Irene said that she wanted to talk face to face, I could only nod. It’s nothing else, it’s just a face-to-face conversation, so why worry about that?
The problem is that I have a lot of schedules, including Belial coming to visit tonight and having to talk to Irene when I see her… Well, I guess it’ll be okay. All you have to do is talk to Irene in advance about something a little more awkward than she wants.
“The scenery has changed a lot.”
Anyway, after I finished everything related to Irene, I came to see Elias in Eyluse.
I’ve been going in and out a lot in the meantime, but when I come back after urgent work, I’m surprised by a new feeling.
Looking at the fact that the Magic Tower has been completely restored, it looks like Elias has been working very hard so far. She accepted my request and did the restoration work, and there is a reason why she rose to the position of Magic Tower Master, which only a competent person can ascend to.
Click!!
“…?”
But what is this?
Feeling a different feeling, I entered Elias’s laboratory to meet him, but when Elias saw me, she immediately swept up the flasks on her desk and threw them away.
He didn’t just sweep her away, he distorted her face.
Uh… Huh?
“Why, why…!”
“Elias?”
The moment I was not fully aware of what was going on, Elias came towards me with his molars clenched.
The sound of footsteps is very loud as the fried glass shards hit your shoes and make a crunching sound. No, it’s not that big, but I should say it gives me a little goosebumps.
“Why didn’t you call me!?”
“…Call me?”
“Yes!! In the fight against the God of Light!!”
Fortunately, her questions about why Elias is like this are answered in an instant. No, I’m not sure if I should consider this a good thing.
Elias feels betrayed for not calling her self into her fight.
Up until now, I had only relied on Elias, and I didn’t call him because I thought Elias’ achievements had already paid off for what I gave him… Moreover, the fight progressed too suddenly.
Hmm, your way of thinking has definitely changed strangely since you became a devil.
Elias doesn’t need anything in return and thinks of us as true comrades.
“It was a golden opportunity to watch pure gods of light fight and approach the true god system, but why on earth!!”
ㅡThat’s not what I said.
It was a sense of camaraderie and I just wanted to enrich my own knowledge by watching the fight.
Elias’ anger is anger that comes from her clear sense of betrayal. However, the fundamental cause of that feeling of betrayal is not that she was abandoned as a colleague, but rather the feeling of deprivation that comes from wondering why only you guys enjoy such fun things.
“You know very well that I have been researching what the true God is until now!! Just leave me alone…!! Ugh, huh…”
“… That’s not it. I thought Elias had paid for what I had given her so far, so she couldn’t call her into a fight–“
“Stop, stop!”
Elias’ words break the waist of my horse.
Until now, Elias has never once interrupted me. Elias always acted to please me in order to gain more knowledge about magic.
The fact that Elias is doing this shows very well the anger she feels.
“…I can’t do that. I have to go to the sparring hall right now. Since my energy hasn’t completely gone yet, I have to look for traces of the light spirit and system there.”
But the water has already been spilled.
Elias must have thought that nothing would change even if she got so angry, but she soon began to do what she thought was best in the current situation. She went to the place where the fight was in full swing and collected as much of the remaining traces and fragments as possible.
The problem is that the sparring hall is filled with my demon energy and has become an external demon world.
If you are an ordinary person, your life is in danger just by going in and taking a breath. Of course, Elias is not an ordinary person, but he can still suffer damage to his internal organs just by breathing.
“Elias.”
“I said I was going.”
But Elias does not allow my counterargument at all. Elias, whose eyes have already rolled back at her, begins to pack her belongings, calmly doing things she would never have done if she had a normal way of thinking.
Watching Elias do that… I feel like I’m watching my wife stuff her luggage into her suitcase after a big fight, something we often see in her morning dramas.
I don’t know, do whatever you want.
**********
“Ugh…”
Meanwhile, while Faust was wandering outside her, Irene briefly let out her spit and wiped her own face.
Irene is nervous now.
It’s not that I’m anxious because I have a lot on my mind, it’s just that I’m very anxious.
The reason is Faust’s magic that has permeated Irene’s body.
“… It’s been a very long time since demonic energy permeated her body. Is this the first time since she was punished by not being able to enter the Great Forest?”
Irene, feeling nervous as her heart rate beats rapidly due to the magic energy circulating through her body, twists the corner of her mouth.
Until now, even though Irene had traveled with her warrior party, she had never been consumed by demonic energy. This is because the magic sphere that was always floating by Faust’s side absorbed all the magic energy around her.
That’s why Irene didn’t take enough countermeasures against demon energy, and her lack of countermeasures led to fatal results when her demon energy sphere revealed its true colors.
Without any defense system in place, she was trapped in a deluge of demonic energy.
The great flood made up of Faust’s demonic energy supplied enough demonic energy for the warrior party to awaken into complete demons, but what would it be like for Irene, who is vulnerable to demonic energy because she is a pure high elf?
Tingling ㅡ
“Ugh…”
The Magi that is circulating through Irene’s body nudges Irene’s entire body. Her heart tingles, her spinal cord throbs, and her muscles contract and relax at will.
As the days go by, the symptoms are getting more serious, so if time passes like this, one day I will not be able to sleep properly.
“…Should I ask Gaia for a favor?”
In Irene’s mind, thousands of years ago, she saw Gaia, who saw herself consumed by demonic energy, took pity on her, and purified her in an instant.
But soon Irene shakes her head to erase that thought from her mind. She says that for Irene, who has already been indebted to her a lot and who feels that she has committed her sins, it is impossible for her to cling to Gaia again. So much so that she thought it would be better for her to bite her tongue and die.
“Then how on earth-“
[Faust Neim…]
“ㅡugh…”
At that moment, the auditory hallucination of Lena’s voice passes through Irene’s ears.
This is the voice of Lena, who became a demon from an elf and clung to Faust while screaming.
In Irene’s opinion, unlike herself, who was consumed by demonic energy, Lena did not feel any pain.
In other words, the reason why she is hurting like this from demons now is because Irene herself is still an elf, and if she becomes a demon, it means that she can escape this pain. In other words, if she abandons the elves and becomes a demon –
“…No, you can’t do that.”
But soon, Irene shakes her head to erase that room as well.
For the noble elves, the first descendants of Gaia, and the last survivors of the ancient elves, abandoning their race was an impossible choice.
Of course, if Gaia had known what Irene was thinking right now, she would have told her that such things don’t matter and that she should just hurry up and reproduce, but the current Irene knows nothing about that.
She was just holding her chest and suppressing the pain caused by her demonic energy.