Chapter 75 (2/2)

Everything broke. The whole world seemed to start to crumble as the demon’s words entered my ears.

「Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!」

「『Ukakakakaakakakakaka! Great. This is perfect. Your soul is looking so delectable and filled with despair that I can already taste it!!』」

The undead creatures I turned my gaze upon were undoubtedly the family members I’d been with my whole life, the mother and little sister I’d always lived with and loved.

「『You know what, I’ll even be nice enough to let you hear their voices one last time.』」

The demon waved his hand and moved some of his mana into both Shellmy and my Mother.

「Red…」

「He…ar…」

The area around the mouths started to move awkwardly. They gnashed their teeth a few times before finally speaking the lines I’d heard just a few days ago.

「How have you been doing lately, Shuria?」

「You always say you’re doing fine, but I still can’t help but worry.」

「Please… just… stop…」

The demon’s hearty, obnoxiously loud laughter took my world’s few unbroken fragments and crushed them.

「『You know, the reason you can still recognize them even after all they’ve gone through must be love, huh? Oh man, that’s rich. You know what? I’m glad we met.』」

「You’re lying… You have to be lying… What did I do wrong? What did I do to deserve this…? 」

「『Hehe, I’m not lying at alllll. You yourself didn’t do anything bad, but that sister of yours sure did. Just look at what she did your precious family. I bet this gets her off. Hahahaha, she’s even more demonic than most actual demons.』」

My body went limp as my sensations began to leave me. I lost even the ability to feel my tears as they rolled down my cheek.

「I… see…」

I’d always seen the world as a warm, kind place. I’d thought of it as a soft blanket made out of silk.

But now, it’d changed. The whole world had been turned inside out.

All my warm memories had transformed from silken threads to sharp needles. They began piercing right through me and causing me pain.

（It was all a lie. It’d all been a lie from the very start. Her smile, her kindness, and the time we spent together were all just parts of a web of lies. The only reason she gave me books, the only reason she took me out today was so she could keep lying to me, so she could reinforce the idea that she was my kind older sister.）

「Haha…hahahaha. How ridiculous. The whole thing was just a ruse.」

I was such an idiot. I not only trusted the bitch that murdered everyone in my village, but also treated her like a beloved member of my family. I let her shut me in a room and steal my talent for magic even though she’d turned both the mother and sister I loved into a pair of disfigured messes.

「『Is it happening? Have you finally fallen into the depths of despair?』」

「Shut up! Blaze, oh orb of flame, Fireball…!」

I tried to create a projectile and fire it at the demon out of rage, but the magical energy I poured into the attack ended up just dispersing throughout the air without taking form.

「I… I can’t even cast that anymore…?」

I’d lost every last bit of the magical talent I once had. I couldn’t even retaliate against the demon that was about to consume my soul.

「Fufufu… Hahahahaha… Haahahahahahahahahahahaaahhh!」

The situation I was in was so ridiculous it caused me to chuckle. A dry laughter filled my surroundings as tears continued to pour from my eyes.

「『Uhihihi, it looks like your soul’s really going to end up being quite the tasty one.』」

My vision was blurred, but I could still see the demon as it spread its wings.

「Why…?」

Why did this have to happen?

How did things turn out this way?

I’d always thought that the world was a wonderful place. But I was no longer capable of believing in it. Even my most pleasant memory had long just become another thorn in my side..

「『Good, good. I do love me a soul full of bitterness.』」

「I’ve had enough already… I don’t want to see or hear anything anymore.」

「『It looks so good that I can’t help but want to eat it right now. Actually, you know what, that’s it. It’s time for me to dig in.』」

Colour had started to drain from the world around me, but the demon, sneer and all, remained ever so clear nonetheless. He was slowly extending his arm towards me. I knew that the moment it finally reached me, my life would be forfeit. The moment he reached me, it would finally all end. And so, I, Shuria, awaited it. I simply sat there and did nothing as my last breath drew closer and closer.

But then I realized something.

「『Oh? You’re still planning on resisting?』」

「…I can’t let myself die. I won’t let this be over just yet.」

Though I wanted to give up, I ended up moving my body backwards in an attempt to avoid the demon’s touch.

Because I realized that I wasn’t satisfied.

「…I won’t forgive her. I won’t forgive that stupid bitch! I’m swear I’m going to get my revenge and pay her back for all she’s done to me!」

「『Ohhhh, not bad at all. The ones that resist all the way through end up being even more delicious than the ones that don’t.』」

I don’t want to die.

I don’t want to let it all end.

Not like this.

A thirst for retribution welled up within me and filled every last fibre of my being.

I hated her. I wanted to kill her so badly that I couldn’t contain my own emotions.

I decided that I wasn’t giving up, that I would get my vengeance no matter what.

And so, I swore an oath, an oath of vengeance.

「…I swear I’ll kill everyone that involves themselves with her. I swear I’ll murder everyone that’s ever done anything to her benefit.」

「『Oh my. I’m sure she’ll feel real hurt if you tell her that. Hehehehehe.』」

I felt nothing but hatred for the demon that lay before my eyes. It had conspired with her and helped her bring her plans to fruition. I wanted to tear it apart, burn it alive, bite through its flesh, drown it, and strangle it with my bare hands.

I wanted to make it suffer, to force it into a cage of despair that no light could invade. And I wanted it to die in there.

No.

That wasn’t right.

I didn’t want to just let it die.

I wanted to do the honours.

I wanted to kill it with my own two hands.

I knew that resisting was pointless, but I started throwing stones at the demon. When I ran out, I instead resorted to sand.

My thoughts were filled with naught but hatred, hatred for everyone and everything that’d forced my current fate upon me.

But it didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter how much frustrated I was. Nor did it matter how much I struggled.

Nothing was going to change.

「Ugh… arghh….!!」

The demon grabbed me by the hair as it licked its lips.

I tried to shake it off, but it was too strong. I couldn’t get away.

「『Don’t worry. She told me she was going to use your body, so I won’t rough you up too much. I’m just going to be sucking out your soul and stopping your heart with my demonic poison.』」

「Let… go of me… you monster. I’m going to kill you!」

I desperately scratched at his arms in an attempt to get him to drop me. I used as much force as I could. I didn’t even mind having tearing my nails off as long as it meant hurting him.

「『Kuhahaha. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a soul as high class as yours. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get lonely. I’ll even mix your magical energy together with what’s left in those failed undead over there.』」

The demon let go of me and extended its hand towards my mother and sister.

「Ugh!? Stop it…!」

「『Demonic Absorption.』」

I wasn’t capable of understanding what it was muttering, but the results were self evident. I didn’t need any sort of explanation.

He caused them to explode. Red blood splattered all over as their bodies were destroyed. What remained of them was just a bit of black mist, a substance the demon sucked up and absorbed.

「You fucking asshole! How dare you! How dare you!?」

「『Well well well, whatever happened to you? Weren’t you just trying to get as far from me as you could? Now look at you. I guess that must’ve been quite shocking to see.』」

The demon grinned.

「『Don’t worry your little head too much. You’ll soon be joining them in my stomach.』」

Tears of anger and frustration once again caused my vision to blur as I screamed at him and repeated the same questions over and over again.

Why, how did it end up like this?

I didn’t do anything wrong, so why did this have to happen?

「It can’t end, not like this…」

That bitch was going to keep using me even after I died. She was going to do to me what she did to my family members.

She was going to turn me into an ingredient and use my eyes to create some sort of magic item. She was going to use me for her experiments before finally turning me into an undead.

I was much more frustrated by what she was going to do to me after I died than the fact that I was going to die.

Where did I go wrong?

How did I end here of all places?

Just when did she first decide she was going to betray me?

「『Anyway, anyway, enough of that. It’s time for me to eat you, and for real this time.』」

The way the demon smiled made me recall Yumis’ own.

『So you’re Shuria? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Yumis, your older sister.』

Specifically, it looked exactly like the one she had when we first met. The resemblance was so striking that her voice had even began echoing through my head.

（That… was probably when it all started…）

「I swear… I swear… I’m going to kill her.」

「God damn it. I can’t believe your circumstances are really this similar to my own. This has to be a god damn joke, and a terrible one, at that.」

「Huh…?」

I saw something flash as the prison bars were cut open. The metal poles fell over and began rolling around. The demon’s hand, which’d been right before my eyes, fell to the ground as it was severed.

The person that’d caused the sudden change was a black eyed, black haired swordsman.

His face was a familiar one, but yet not at the same time. His body, which I’d known to be spiritual, had become one with physical form.

「Kai…to…?」

「’Sup. It’s been a while. I’m here to see you again, just as promised.」

He answered the question that I couldn’t stop myself from asking in a casual tone.

「『Who the hell are you? Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt, human?』」

Kaito turned around to face the demon as it posed its question.

「I’d love to open with “It may be rather presumptuous for me to say,” or something like that, but I’m actually here to run a bit of a recruitment drive today, so I’ll refrain.」 [1]

In his hand was a single, blue-silver blade with two orange coloured fluffy balls hanging from the bottom of its guard.

「I’m someone that’s come a long way for the sole sake of torturing the bitch that summoned you to death.」

He raised his blade and pointed it towards the demon as his lips began curving upwards. The dark smile on his face was so full of his burning passion that I almost wanted to call it heroic.

「I’m none other than the fool they call the The Avenger’s Second Coming.」[2]

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[1] Really famous line, especially in Kabuki.

[2] Subject to change. Sounds horrible in English. JP: Nidome no Fukushuusha