256

Chapter 256 — What If (4)

Ha.

The instant the blade sank into the Knight’s chest, Mephistopheles let out a sharp laugh.

His white hair shook with the sound, seeming even more devoid of color against his pitch-black clothes.

You dare threaten me with your life?

He dropped from the sky and ground his molars while watching the red liquid that had begun steadily rising.

You dare?

Me?

Once this fills completely, this body will die.

Die and crumble away.

And if that happens, then his soul, bound by the contract, will suffer much the same fate and spend a very long time gasping in agony.

Broken, shattered, forced to crawl miserably along the ground until every fracture finally mends.

You fucking little bastard….

No.

He refused.

Anything but that.

Mephistopheles remembered the helplessness he had felt when his body was stolen.

A shattered soul would surely be a shock comparable to that.

He never wanted to experience such a thing again.

His hand once again tugged compulsively at the sleeve concealing his body.

Boom!

At the same moment, his foot slammed down upon the landscape of his mind.

The liquid that had begun pooling below flew upward and started returning to where it had come from.

Death would never be allowed to chew through this body.

「It’s meaningless.」

Then the one sitting in a corner of the mindscape spoke.

The soul, shrunk over the course of several years, could barely produce a voice that sounded old and exhausted despite the way it looked.

And who decides that?

Not that Mephistopheles cared.

He answered pity with irritation, affirmation with rage.

In truth, those words were correct.

At this rate, he would lose.

But he hid that realization tightly away, letting not even the smallest trace escape.

Deception and lies.

Those were the first accolades he had ever grasped.

「…You lost.」

And I asked, who gets to decide that?

At the same time, he extracted a hidden truth from the subtle slowness of the other’s voice.

Fool.

You aren’t even certain of your own victory.

For Mephistopheles, that was very good news.

Good.

If I use this properly, I can avoid both the future where I’m forced to die without being able to do anything and the ending where that damned Gretchen keeps exploiting my weakness every single time.

Kk, kk, kk.

A laugh that was swallowed rather than released echoed through the empty world.

The other flinched, giving him yet another opening.

Little one, surely you don’t think this ends here?

You don’t honestly think he’ll die, that he’ll simply return to where he belongs?

「…You can’t save him.」

Oh?

Do you truly believe that?

Then he simply needed to push harder.

Certain of that, Mephistopheles casually manifested a chair.

A throne that repeatedly collapsed and regenerated soon appeared beneath him.

Truly?

「…Yes.」

Liar.

With a graceful motion, he settled into the chair.

The long robe that had hung behind him like a cloak folded beneath him and drew up to his knees, exposing narrow ankles that had been hidden beneath the hems of his trousers.

Not an inch of bare skin could be seen, yet the leisurely tapping of one foot made it impossible to tell whether his composure was false or genuine.

Unable to read Mephisto’s hand, the other once again stiffened.

If this fight continued, Mephistopheles would be the one to lose before long.

And yet the fool was the one growing nervous without even realizing that.

Mephisto mocked the sight inwardly.

You already know too.

Gretchen knows far too much now.

「…….」

But it was precisely because the other was such a fool that he could run this scam.

Just because I can’t win… doesn’t mean I lose.

Right?

「……!」

Perhaps it would have been different if he could draw on all his strength.

But now, with most of his power bound by the contract, he was barely managing to replenish the blood pouring from the hole in the heart and the oxygen the body lacked, much less close the wound itself.

The other didn’t know that.

The other didn’t know that even back in the Great Forest, he would have failed to keep the body alive if the humans around them hadn’t administered treatment afterward.

The other didn’t know that although the weakening of the Concealment of Ignorance had given him more room to intervene, all it really did was let him last one hour instead of thirty minutes!

And that was exactly why he could deceive the other so thoroughly.

Leaning against the throne, Mephisto once again released a laugh as though swallowing it.

Now then, why don’t we speak honestly?

Who exactly will win this endless contest between spear and shield?

That fellow, who must keep stabbing his own heart until he dies?

Or me, who only needs to keep healing that heart until he gives up?

「…You bastard.」

Who do you think will have the harder time enduring?

「……!」

Now it was time to prepare and eat this foolish, ignorant thing.

With that thought, Mephisto whispered in a sing-song voice.

Of course, you still think this, don’t you?

Even if it takes a little longer, if he dies in the end it’ll be more beneficial to him.

He’ll suffer for a while, but going home is what he wants more….

But is that really true?

Can you guarantee that someone who has repeatedly stabbed his own heart will be able to live normally once he returns?

「…Kgh!」

Ahh, poor, pitiful Gretchen.

How unfortunate, to end up entangled with someone so cruel and heartless.

「…Shut up.」

How unfortunate… to be driven into circumstances where even if he tries to hang himself, not one person will stop him, not one person will help him.

「Shut up!」

Haha, little one.

You shouldn’t take your self-loathing out on somebody else….

This was purely your decision, remember?

Really.

The way the other leapt at even the slightest provocation was almost disappointingly easy.

So then….

Why not make your decision?

Will you gamble by leaving things as they are?

Or will you ease his suffering…?

This was why children—young and inexperienced things—were no good.

Mephistopheles smoothly curved his lips upward and waited for an answer.

Splash. Splash.

As a result of all the struggling he had done without letting the other notice, the red water was already touching his ankles.

「…I have a condition.」

…My.

I didn’t realize you thought so little of Gretchen.

「If you don’t want to accept it, then don’t. We can just see which of us tires first.」

…….

But even this would visibly rise after another thirty or forty minutes.

Before then, he needed to coax that damned brat into granting him the right to use his power.

Maintaining his faint smile, Mephistopheles pretended to listen.

「Give it back. The power Yukgwi should rightfully have had.」

He probably would have kept pretending—

if that damned brat hadn’t made a demand so far beyond the line.

Veins stood out over the hand hidden beneath his glove.

「Without that, I won’t allow it.」

Did they know?

Had they figured it out?

Mephistopheles stared directly into the wavering eyes.

No.

The brat wasn’t certain either.

Not certain, but….

You’ve completely lost your fear.

「I told you. If you don’t like it, refuse.」

The other side had simply weighed Gretchen’s situation—perhaps having to spend dozens of days repeatedly harming himself—against what could later be done while possessing Yukgwi’s power and thrown out the demand.

Yes.

That was all.

Agreed.

「Good.」

Black flames began dripping from the ends of Mephistopheles’s clothes.

Read only on MUGEX

* * *

Yukgwi silently watched the person who had stabbed his own chest, face composed.

It wasn’t because Yukgwi particularly wanted to watch.

There was simply no power to intervene.

Nothing Yukgwi could do except remain there in silence.

[…Should I call them now?]

No.

In truth, there was one option.

Just because Yukgwi lacked ability did not mean everyone else did.

And Yukgwi had the power to report what was happening to the Mountain Lord this very instant.

All it would take was the desire.

Perceive the Mountain Lord, call the name, and passing along a message would take less than a second.

Meaning that if Yukgwi truly wanted to interfere with this madness, it was possible.

[Do I really have to spend my final years watching shit like this…?]

At the same time, Yukgwi could not do it.

Sadly, Yukgwi fundamentally possessed no ability to save the Knight.

No power to convince him that he did not have to throw himself off a cliff.

No power to resolve the contradiction of having to choose death in order to live.

So how could Yukgwi stop him?

To say, “That is wrong,” while offering neither an alternative nor a solution would merely be another form of cruelty.

Yukgwi had no right to stop the Knight’s gamble.

[…Mountain Lord.]

[Yes?]

[When you come later… don’t come empty-handed. Bring more food. Something good for restoring strength.]

[Oh. Understood.]

Besides, Yukgwi had no desire to show a descendant this insane sight.

Wondering whether that decision was truly the right one, Yukgwi lowered the head.

[Deurpumain… Inquisitor Daniel….]

Meanwhile, Yukgwi also tried to remember the Knight’s request.

Hopefully this attempt would succeed as the Knight wished.

But the possibility that it would not could hardly be ignored.

If Yukgwi failed to fulfill even that request, there would be no way to ever hold the head up again until the day of death.

[Deurpumain… Inquisitor Daniel… Deur… Argh, why do humans use names that twist the tongue like this?]

But….

As Yukgwi repeated the words to avoid forgetting them, a small question arose.

From the context, Deurpumain was probably the name of a city, and Daniel seemed to be a person’s name….

But what relationship did they have that the Knight wanted the corpse delivered there?

Perhaps Daniel was a relative of the original owner of the body?

But if Daniel was an Inquisitor, then Daniel belonged to the Temple.

Even if they were related, would someone from the Temple really treat kindly the corpse of someone steeped in Demonic Energy?

[…Good grief.]

No idea.

If the Knight wanted the body sent there, then Yukgwi would send it.

And the Knight wasn’t dead yet anyway.

Muttering that, Yukgwi curled up a little more, looking gloomy.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Time ticked by alongside the sound of falling water.

[Ha.]

Exactly twenty minutes after the Knight’s heart had been wounded, the injury suddenly closed in an instant.

At the same moment, the Knight opened his eyes.

Before collapsing, those eyes had been tinged with faint gloom, a thin thread of hope, and resignation.

Now, they were slowly heating with rage.

[Human filth.]

It wasn’t simply the sort of anger one might feel over being forced to go this far.

The very origin of the fire was different.

A rage born from an entirely different spark.

A vicious flame that wanted to burn everything in the world.

[You dare insult me…?]

[…Insane.]

Those damned flames Yukgwi had seen in the human city.

[I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you without fail.]

And yet, they were imprisoned.

Though there should have been no chains in existence capable of binding fire, it was held in shackles and suppressed.

That was Yukgwi’s only hope.

[…W-what the hell are you talking about? Why did you suddenly wake up and start spewing shit?]

Even while feeling subtly pressured by the overwhelming difference in power, Yukgwi forced strength into the neck and legs.

After all, the years carved into Yukgwi’s soul would not permit cowering in fear before a beast already chained.

Stop.

The left eye, stained ash-red, fixed precisely on Yukgwi.

[Let us make a trade upon our names, musty beast.]

[…What the hell is this insane demon bastard talking about, suddenly appearing like this?]

Had the Knight known this would happen when he stabbed his own heart?

But if he had known, shouldn’t that have been even more reason not to do it?

No matter how restricted the demon might be, unleashing it into this forest would be repaying kindness with betrayal!

[It will not be to your detriment.]

While Yukgwi screamed inwardly through every imaginable possibility, the awakened demon snapped the fingers.

The Zweihander that had been propped nearby melted at the signal like slime.

Shhk.

The white shadow pooling on the ground split open like a mouth next.

[That is….]

Something that had dozed and dozed at the border between dimensions until nothing remained but pure power pushed its way out from between the jaws of that pale shadow.

Yukgwi’s eyes widened.

That was Yukgwi’s power.

[What you must do is simple. Remain silent about everything that happened after this human fell unconscious, and if this human says something, agree with it.]

Meanwhile, the demon put away the dagger, removed the gauntlet, and calmly stated the terms.

The irritable tone revealed exactly how displeased it was by what it was doing.

[…The conditions are too favorable. That makes them harder to trust.]

But how could Yukgwi trust something like that?

Yukgwi glared at the demon without lowering the guard.

Its faded ash-red eyes, like crushed lotus petals or washed-out pink cloth, continued staring back.

Drip.

Drip.

Black flames slid down from the edges of its clothing.

[Do you think your trust matters?]

That bastard has completely lost it.

Yukgwi instinctively shut the mouth before the snarling demon.

Fwoosh.

As if it had expected exactly that, the demon gathered flame at the fingertips.

What soon formed was a contract.

[Mutual trust is not what matters. What matters is what each of us gains from this transaction.]

A contract governed by ancient magic could be read even by one who knew no letters, and seen even by one without sight.

Thanks to that property, Yukgwi could inspect the contract placed before the eyes.

The things the demon had said earlier were laid out in greater detail, written carefully enough that no loophole could be exploited.

There were no particularly poisonous clauses.

[…Why?]

[Accept it or refuse it. Those are your only two choices.]

Every single bastard inside that body is rude as hell.

Yukgwi narrowed the eyes at the demon.

[Choose.]

The sphere of power that had once belonged to Yukgwi, only to be stolen away, rolled within the demon’s palm.

[…I accept.]

Yukgwi did not understand the meaning of this transaction.

But one thing felt certain.

That pitiable man was about to lose yet another clue.

But what else could Yukgwi do?

Yukgwi had told the Knight this clearly.

The only eternal ally a person could ever have was oneself.

Even those who appeared to be allies now might one day stab you in the back.

[Good.]

[…….]

Therefore Yukgwi….

Chose the option that benefited Yukgwi more than it benefited the Knight.

It did not feel good.

The sphere fell in front of Yukgwi.

The demon collapsed like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

[…Nothing good ever comes from getting mixed up with demon bastards. Seriously.]

Yukgwi picked up the power that had once belonged to Yukgwi in the mouth and carried it inside the shell.

If Yukgwi tried to absorb that power immediately with the vessel now shriveled by age, the body would undoubtedly burst.

The plan was to take time and absorb it slowly.

[Good grief.]

Of course, the Knight would weigh on Yukgwi’s mind the entire time.

Damn it.

[Blame me….]

But….

But….

Ha.

With a sigh, Yukgwi gave up even on making excuses internally.

Instead, Yukgwi waited for the Knight to wake.

Much later, eyes that had returned to gray slowly peeked between the eyelids.

“…When did I collapse?”

And the question was one Yukgwi could not possibly answer.

Not because of the contract.

And not because of the way Yukgwi felt now.

[You….]

“Ah… I apologize. I made a mistake.”

But the Knight did not linger long on having lost consciousness.

…What?

Yukgwi, opening and closing the mouth without managing to say anything, felt something strange.

“I’m sorry. I’m still inexperienced.”

But the Knight did not even give Yukgwi time to think.

“I will not make the same mistake again.”

The right hand, from which the demon had removed the gauntlet, rose into view.

Between the loosened bandages, the exposed black skin was overflowing with Demonic Energy.

“How is it? Has the Demonic Energy been concealed?”

No.

It was overflowing.

Until the skin turned pale like the rest of the body.

“Did I succeed?”

Yukgwi could no longer say anything.