༺ Gaslighting (1) ༻
Blue body fluid splattered in all directions.
Inside my arms, I could see Riru with her mouth agape. It was understandable, after all, the same being that she and Talion desperately tried to run away from had suffered such a fatal wound from just a single strike.
“…”
I turned around while making sure my mask was still on.
Beyond the tsunami, I could see a boat skipping across the water, approaching us from a distance.
At the forefront was Yuria, Severer drawn in her hand.
“Heup!”
First thing first. The loot.
I caught the Sea Serpent’s severed foreleg that had begun to fall down after that one blow.
‘Gottem.’
A dragon’s body was an equivalent to a treasure chest. All parts of its body could be used in a variety of ways.
The materials I had collected so far would undoubtedly come in handy at some point.
‘…That aside…’
‘Sheesh, it really only took her a single strike…’
Most weapons wouldn’t even scratch its scales. Too bad it had to face a monster who was able to slice through an Automaton made of Starsteel with a single strike, well under the condition that her target was within her range.
Unless it was a real dragon, there was no way something at the level of that Sea Serpent could deal with such an attack.
This outcome came with a problem though… Just look at the space between Yuria and the Sea Serpent she just fucked over.
Even at a glance, no way in hell that they were only three steps apart.
‘…Seriously, what the fuck?’
‘How did she become so strong?’
System Message
[ Corruption Value of target ‘Yuria’ has exceeded 90%! ]
[ Due to the influence of the ‘White Devil’ imbued in the item ‘Severer’, the curse on target ‘Yuria’ has become even stronger! ]
“…”
‘Huh? There was that kind of effect? First time I’ve ever heard about it…’
Imagine if I hadn’t given her the Starsteel Circlet to remove the side effect where she’d indiscriminately slash anyone in her sight… Something horribly wrong might have happened long ago…
‘…Still, the fortunate part is…’
With this kind of power, it wouldn’t be too difficult to engrave the ‘Imprint’ on the Sea Serpent as I originally intended.
Even in the game, certain Demonic Creatures, to be exact, those powerful enough to receive special treatment, could be engraved with special Imprints through battles. Using said Imprints, one could partially release a set of ‘interactions.’
Those interactions included taming them as mounts, summoning them during battles or receiving special items from them.
In the Sea Serpent’s case, the Imprint made it harbor an intense sense of ‘wrath’ towards the opponent who inflicted severe injuries upon it.
-!!!!
The Sea Serpent’s eyes flashed with rage as it turned towards Yuria.
Although one of its forelegs was severed, the bastard was technically still a dragon. It still possessed a tremendous combat po—
“Know your place.”
From the distance, I could hear Yuria coldly recite such words.
-!
Another white sword strike followed.
This time, its remaining foreleg flew away.
The Sea Serpent screamed in agony as it writhed.
-!!
Then, she took another swing.
A part of the Water Dragon’s body was sliced off.
-!!!
Another swing. It was one of its legs this time.
-!!!!
Another swing. A part of its tail.
“…”
At this point, Talion and Riru’s expressions changed into something that went beyond astonishment.
Again, it was understandable, since that woman was…
Turning the Water Dragon’s body into minced meat with every swing of her sword.
“…Am I dreaming right now? A dragon is being mutilated and hacked apart by a single human?”
“Even the Dragon Slayer from the legends couldn’t toy with them this easily…”
And, for once…
“…I agree.”
I wasn’t free from such a reaction.
While I had expected some kind of stat enhancements due to the Devil’s influence…
It never crossed my mind that the enhancements would be this significant.
Since the Grey Devil was considered as the strongest among the devils, I thought, ‘Maybe this only happened because it’s the Grey Devil.’ Besides, in the original game, Eleanor was the final boss. Her base stats were already incredible to begin with.
But, for Yuria to be strengthened to this level as well?
Just from her anger increasing the Corruption Value slightly?
System Message
[ Target ‘Sea Serpent’ is experiencing intense pain! ]
[ Target’s Unique Ability ‘Current Manipulation’ is weakening! ]
Together with that message, the tsunami subsided and the Sea Serpent lost its mind, twitching and floundering in agony.
I should say that it was impressive for it to still be alive considering how badly mutilated he was. However, seeing it dive into the water with its tail drooped between its legs made me question whether it deserved such praise.
System Message
[ Target ‘Sea Serpent’ is retreating! ]
[ Target has been engraved with a ‘Fear Imprint’! ]
[ From now on, the target will recall this experience when seeing ‘Yuria’! ]
“…”
‘Huh? This worked?’
‘How did she do it?’
‘…No, wait…So…’
When considering which Imprint would be the best, by far, the Fear Imprint topped.
Depending on the circumstances, a Demonic Creature engraved with the Fear Imprint had the possibility of reaching the final technique of taming: ‘Breeding’.
To engrave the Fear Imprint onto a Demonic Creature, one would need to continuously inflict ‘non-lethal’ yet extremely powerful attacks in a short period of time.
Honestly, I hadn’t even considered that such a feat was possible in the first place.
“…”
“…”
While I was lost in such thoughts, Yuria’s boat slowly approached before finally making contact with the front of ours.
Yuria, who had been at the forefront, hopped over to our boat.
Her movements could be called dainty and cute, but from our perspective, after witnessing what the fuck she had just done, she looked downright terrifying.
But even so…
“…”
I took a deep breath.
Her specs turned out to be much more powerful than expected, but that was irrelevant.
From the moment I expected her to come my way, what I had to do was already determined.
‘…I’ve been thinking of doing this ever since Eleanor went berserk.’
If Eleanor, who was that devoted to me, would chase after me in anger to such an extent, then this woman would definitely do the same as well.
System Message
[ Corruption Value of target ‘Yuria’ is in a dangerous state! ]
[ If you respond incorrectly, an emergency event may occur immedia— ]
Blah blah blah.
Although messages like that appeared in front of me…
I already knew what it was going to say.
Just like usual, the other person would get angry, asking things like ‘Why are you with other women?’ or ‘Am I not the most important person to you?’ Of course, if I couldn’t resolve this, I’d die.
This pattern had repeated itself several times prior to this.
“Yuria.”
But…
At this moment, those things weren’t important to me.
What was important was that I had to properly set up a ‘milestone’ right here and now.
‘…To be honest….’
With my luck, I couldn’t completely block them from attaching themselves to me like that.
No matter how many privileges I had due to various knowledge of the original game… Even considering my disposition to be unconditionally loved by those people… How could I, someone who was ultimately just a human, stop fights at the level of Devils? Moreover, ones that were motivated by blind and irrational love? All I could do was hold on for dear life, desperately praying that I don’t get swept away.
In the end, the only way was to continue engaging in many different relationships without anyone finding out.
However…
Whatever it was, it should never interrupt the progression of the ‘Main Scenario’ like what was happening right now. Especially when it involved a Devil’s Vessel like Riru, who required delicate management. There shouldn’t be any more variables than there already were.
And so, I had to use a bit of an aggressive move.
“Why did you interfere?”
“…Huh?”
At the words that I had spat out the moment I saw her face, Yuria responded with a bewildered voice.
It was probably because she was being questioned by the very man that she should be questioning instead.
Iliya, who was on the same boat as Yuria, stared at me as her jaws dropped.
Judging from her appearance, it seemed as if she knew exactly why Yuria had dragged a ship all the way here in this weather.
As such, she was reacting this way because she knew that the question I had the audacity to raise was even more insane than playing with fire inside a powder keg. But even so…
“…”
Though I did not have zero experience with love, this was the conclusion I had reached after racking my brain again and again.
It would actually make my life easier if I displayed this kind of attitude at least once.
Relationships were always a two-way street, not a one-way alley.
In other words…
No matter how lopsided the relationship between a Devil and a human was…
As long as ‘she’ loved ‘me’…
She wasn’t the only one holding a dagger in her hands.
System Message
[ Effect of Title ‘Playboy’ is displayed! ]
[ Revisions are attached to your actions! ]
“I don’t think I’ve ever asked for your help. Right?”
As soon as she heard my cold voice, Yuria’s body visibly froze stiff.
The atmosphere was even colder than I had intended it to be.
This was probably the first time she had seen this side of me.
Although there may be varying levels of intensity, the behavior I had displayed whenever I had met her so far was mostly consistent goodwill.
No matter what she did, I accepted her with open arms, I did everything she wanted, and I even played with her often.
To put it simply, it was the first time she had seen my current appearance; Me who was seething with ‘anger.’
“…No, wait, no, that’s not important. In the first place—”
Yuria stammered as she opened her mouth with difficulty.
She probably wished to argue what was important to her right now; Why was I with another woman, once again, without telling her? However…
“It’s important to me, though?”
Before she could do that, I cut her off completely.
It was important to finely manipulate the atmosphere. Getting too angry would bring the opposite effect of what I intended.
I could never forget the ‘difference in weight class’ between us. She was a Devil that could send my head flying if I made just the slightest mistake.
Any violent or aggressive expressions that could shatter the relationship itself was strictly prohibited. Since that would instantly lead to death.
However…
Establishing a sense of urgency or danger that the relationship could potentially be ‘warped’ was more than possible.
“Just now, I was trying to handle that Sea Serpent according to my plan and without your help. It was going well and if you hadn’t intervened, I could have achieved the results I wanted.”
Obviously, that was a load of bullshit.
Without Yuria, I would most likely have died.
However, now was the time to foster perception.
Something along the lines of: Because of ‘your mistake’, ‘I’ suffered damage.
“…N-No, r-rather than that, right now, why is Mister Dowd—”
“Even in this situation, you are still acting so selfishly.”
As the slightly discouraged Yuria started to speak, I cut her off with an even colder voice.
“Didn’t I just say that the Sea Serpent was important to me?”
Yuria’s body flinched. She hunched up even further, even going as far as taking a step back. The wrath that filled her pupils turned faint.
“…”
Even if it was a relationship between a Devil and a human…
The most fundamental parts remained the same.
I don’t want to disappoint the person I like. I don’t want to be abandoned by that person.
In other words, at this moment…
She was scared.
This woman, who had not moved an inch while mutilating a dragon with a few swings of her sword, was terrified just because of a few of my words.
Just because of the possibility that our relationship would go awry.
And because of my attitude, which was much colder than usual.
“…”
Even as I spoke, my heart was aching.
I was already scared of the words Caliban would throw my way.
However, even so…
“You know…”
For my future, I had to shut my eyes and say this shit properly.
“For the first time, I’m a little disappointed in you.”
Yuria’s eyes began to shake like crazy.
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