Volume 10 Chapter 21 (2/2)
”Oto-san! You! How dare you!”
Kuina fired a flaming shot at Belial, causing the latter to hit the wall.
He was still alive, but his face was utterly expressionless.
And then, I heard a voice within my head.
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It was a voice I had heard before.
After all, whoever it was, it was using my own voice.
”That way of talking… is that you, [Black] Demon Lord? So, you really were behind all these…”
I had suspected an attack would happen at this time.
The settlement offers were too generous, clearly made so that I would lower my guard. After all, it didn't matter to them whatever they offered if they were going to defeat me and take over all my possession in the end.
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The [Black] Demon Lord was an enemy, but I still had some respect for him. So, when he said the words some small fry would utter, I was more disappointed than vexed.
”Belial… did you take control of him like this too?”
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At this reply, the corners of my mouth rose.
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”If you're asking that, I guess you really didn't notice anything at all. Belial has been continuously sending me messages. He keeps on the act like you want him to, but at the same time, he has been giving me hints. He has been going against you. Do you understand? I am not the prey here.”
In order for me to not suspect Belial was being possessed, the [Black] Demon Lord likely allowed Belial some control over his own body. Quite ironically, this small amount of freedom allowed him to send me small and subtle hints that made me aware of things.
I wasn't sure this was the case, but after hearing the recordings of the listening device, I was.
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”You got me there. But let's go back to your question of why I still walked into your trap despite Belial's hints.”
From the start, I had suspected that the [Black] Demon Lord was somehow involved in all of these.
Coupling that with Belial's hints, there was no way I would come unprepared.
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”I guess the saying the only cure for stupidity is death is false. You're proving that even death is not enough to cure it. I mean, to fall for the same trick twice. Let me tell it to you plainly: this body is not real.”
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When ”I” said so, ”I” vanished.
And then, another me appeared alongside Aura.
The truth was that there was two of me in the room. One was the real me, the other was a copy made by Stolas's [Omnipresence].
Aura had used her wind to conceal our forms and presence.
”Let's talk about your [Black] ability, shall we? It allows you to slip into the darkest recesses of someone's heart and take control of them. To make it easier to do so, you rile them up anyway you can. Unfortunately for you, you can't rile me up. How could you when you're nothing but a joke. My heart will never darken because of you. So, are you still going to challenge me?”
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He was coming at me.
This much was inevitable.
His original vessel, Belial, was gravely wounded and would soon die, so returning there was no use. On the other hand, if he were to possess Kuina or Aura who were my monsters, he would have to obey my commands.
According to what I heard from the [Time] Demon Lord, once the [Black] Demon Lord has left his host body, he has approximately 10 seconds to don a new one or return. In other words, the moment the [Omnipresence] copy vanished, the countdown for his life began.
”Procellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll”
I also used my other trump card for this event.
That trump card was the silver watch I received from Dan as the reward for overcoming his trial. It had the ability to use Dan's own [Time] ability. That said, it was an item that could only be used once and only for a short while.
Just moments before he reached me, I touched the silver watch.
The [Time] function I chose was Time Stop. It was a very powerful function. After all, if my time was stopped, I was virtually invincible. I was isolated from any external interference, be it physical, magical, or spiritual.
So, [Black], whose success rate on me was already trivial, now had zero chance of success.
A second later for me and ten seconds later for the world…
”Aura, can you sense his presence anywhere?”
”No, master. He's really gone now. I kept careful watch until it happened.”
I see. I'm glad, then. My fight with the [Black] Demon Lord finally came to a definite end.
”Please give Belial treatment.”
”He has a 50-50 chance to survive right now…”
”Even so, please try. He has been a great benefactor. I can't simply let him die here.”
It was because of Belial's signals that we were able to piece together the truth. Despite being controlled by the [Black] Demon Lord, he kept on struggling.
There was no way my conscience would forgive me if I didn't even try to save him.
Aura took out a container full of Ronove's viscous liquid and poured some into the gaping wound. After various tests, we have concluded that Ronove's viscous liquid had highly potent healing abilities. This along with Aura's healing powers probably made the best first aid treatment.
”Geez, Oto-san, why did you hide it from Kuina?”
”To trick your enemies, you have to trick your allies first, right? If your anger were to show beforehand, he might get an idea of what we know and what we plan to do about it.”
”…I understand. But I'm still not happy about it.”
I brushed the head of this pouting Kuina.
”Master, the worst part's over, but he's still in danger. For a full recovery, I'll need the equipment we have in Avalon.”
”Okay. Then, let's Transfer back to Avalon right away.”
Our first priority at the moment was Belial's survival.
To that end, we could leave the explanations to his monsters for later.
Once he has recovered, I should go thank him again. For being a real comrade.