[This is the first time we have faced one another like this.]
I couldn’t attack the retreating wolf.
Part of the reason was that it kept its eyes fixed on me the entire time as it backed away, but the being beyond it was just as much a factor.
[I deeply regret that matters have come to this.]
Truthfully, its appearance bore an incredible resemblance to someone I knew.
Its luminous blue hair, like Blue Curaçao; its jewel-like eyes glittering like minerals; its clear yet delicate features, as though sculpted by a master craftsman—they looked alike enough to be twins.
“…Regret?”
Yet even amid those similarities, there were a few differences.
The minor ones ranged from the presence or absence of horns to the way they dressed.
The major one lay in the very essence within.
“You regret it?”
[Had you not indulged excessive greed out of arrogant self-confidence, matters would never have become so tangled. Is that not indeed the case?]
Certainly, that thing possessed a composure Commandment lacked.
An ease of a slightly different kind from what could be dismissed merely as the difference of “being the original.”
Something closer to an innate confidence.
“…You weren’t talking to me.”
[You should have fulfilled the duty befitting your name. That is why you became what you are.]
Well, what was the worst that could happen?
I’d only die.
Pushing back against the pressure of the Demonic Energy swirling throughout the hall, I gripped Ratel’s handle.
I’d chosen it because I’d only screw myself over if I used an ordinary weapon and it…