Immediately after Mephistopheles's soul burst out, smashing through the mindscape, my consciousness rose back to the surface.
Unless we intended to leave the body unconscious, someone had to take control of it. That much was obvious.
“Get a hold of yourself.”
But were people really creatures capable of controlling their bodies exactly as they wished the instant they woke up?
Especially when an enormous spiritual element that had made up part of the body had only just left it?
“Cough.”
“…Tch.”
For that reason, I couldn't move my body away under my own power.
Not until Commandment, keeping our promise, grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pulled me back.
“Haa, ha.”
For reference, the reason she'd made such a promise with me was to prepare for the unlikely event that something went wrong.
For instance, we'd been wary that while Mephistopheles and Satan fought over control of the body, some stray attack might come flying toward us.
“Do not be impatient. We have avoided the worst.”
Of course, that concern had truly been meant only for the most remote possibility.
According to our predictions, the fight between Mephistopheles and Satan was supposed to take place entirely within the mind.
And indeed, that pale body was currently standing bolt upright without so much as a twitch.
“Cough. This is… worse than I thought.”
The problem, yes, arose somewhere else.
There had been no stray attack aimed at…