Chapter 262

“Tsk.”

Kainel clicked his tongue lightly and quickened his pace as he pursued Veilks. Should he just cut off his head after all?

“Hmm?”

But at that moment, something began converging on Veilks.

Black mist.

The black mist gathered in an instant and rapidly seeped into Veilks.

Veilks had no idea why the energy he had dispersed to eliminate Ceres was already returning, but he was delighted to have his power back.

It was an incredible stroke of luck. If he wanted to escape safely from Kainel, having his power return was the best thing that could have happened. Perhaps he could even fight back against him.

‘Still, I need to escape first......!’

He wanted to repay Kainel for everything he had suffered, but no matter how he thought about it, escaping had to take priority.

Veilks began circulating the energy that had seeped back into his body even faster.

But then.

“Guh... Urgh!”

...Something was wrong.

Terrible pain surged through his entire body, as though he were burning alive. It was an overwhelming agony, like being thrown into a blazing pit of fire.

“W-What is this......? Aaaaaagh!”

It wasn't his body that was the problem! His soul, his mind, was burning away. Why? Had something happened to his energy?

“......! Th-This is.......”

Only then did Veilks realize that something strange had attached itself to the energy that had returned after inhabiting those people's bodies.

And that something was a kind of curse!

‘Who dares!’

Veilks desperately tried to remove the curse embedded in his energy. But it wasn't easy.

Because this was no ordinary curse!

If it had been a curse cast through some petty human trickery, it would never have been able to attach itself to his energy in the first place.

‘But this......!’

It was devouring everything he had. The more he struggled to break free, the more he drew upon his energy, the tighter it bound him.

[Of course. It's not as though you've committed only one or two sins with that energy of yours, is it?]

“......!”

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice reached his ears.

Click, click.

A woman in a bizarre outfit approached, her red high heels clicking against the ground.

[You'll suffer as much as the sins you've committed with that energy.]

The woman approaching Veilks with a bright smile was none other than Eliette.

Veilks's eyes widened when he saw her.

“Y-You are......! Guh.......”

[Oh, my.]

Eliette's eyes sparkled for a moment.

[You recognize me?]

Her smile deepened at Veilks's expression and tone, which suggested he knew who she was.

[You bastard. You've been alive for a fucking long time, haven't you?]

If you know who I was back then, that is.

Eliette gazed intently at Veilks, looking intrigued.

She already knew he was a demon, but she hadn't expected him to recognize her as well. He must have been a fairly high-ranking demon, then.

[Well, what can you do? It's time for you to disappear. Our master says she's tired of watching you fuck around.]

“G-Gaaaaaaagh!”

No sooner had Eliette finished speaking than a horrific scream burst from Veilks's mouth.

Whoosh!

Veilks's body collapsed to the ground, and something began wriggling its way out of him.

A sticky black creature whose form was impossible to distinguish.

Trembling incessantly, the black creature quickly began moving, as though trying to flee as far away from Eliette and Kainel as possible.

[Tsk. He's not completely dead.]

Eliette clicked her tongue lightly at the sight.

“What is that thing?”

Ceres asked as she approached Eliette.

[Grrrr.......]

Whitey, who had shrunk back to his smaller form, was nestled in Ceres's arms, growling low at the black figure.

As though he were wary of it.

[The true body of whatever was inhabiting that human body. My curse has damaged it, so that's what it looks like now.]

“True body?”

...So that thing is the bastard himself?

The actual culprit behind everything that had happened.

Ceres's gaze turned cold as she listened to Eliette's explanation.

Step.

“Ceres.”

Kainel hurriedly caught hold of Ceres as she started toward the black creature.

Even if it had lost its power, he didn't want her going anywhere near that thing. Who knew what harm it might cause her?

“It's fine.”

Ceres patted Kainel's hand reassuringly, coaxing him to let go, then resumed walking.

Shing.

Before anyone knew it, a sword had appeared in her hand.

A sword of such deep black that not a trace of any other color could be found on it.

Her sword, once called the Devil's Sword.

Shudder.

The fleeing black creature seemed to sense the sword's energy as well, for it began trembling again.

Watching Ceres slowly approach, the black figure edged backward.

As though it were a creature driven by nothing but the instinct to get away from her, away from that sword, at any cost.

[It can't... It can't end like this......!]

The curse was still burning away his soul, and he had barely enough strength left to crawl away.

If he were struck by that sword in his current condition?

[Urgh.......]

Perhaps the reason he had always hesitated to eliminate her was that he had somehow foreseen an ending like this.

Perhaps every action he had taken to avoid confronting her directly, every attempt to keep from clashing with her, had been driven by an instinct to avoid danger.

“It's been fucking unpleasant knowing you. Let's never see each other again.”

Whoosh!

With those words, delivered in a perfectly matter-of-fact tone, Ceres's black sword came down.

[H-He... Her......!]

Even the last remnants of power he had barely managed to maintain were completely absorbed by the sword.

With his final moments, the black figure called out to the being he had waited for so long.

Clinging to the faintest hope that perhaps he would come to save him!

[Her.......]

But contrary to his desperate hopes, Herchaos never appeared, not even as the last of his form vanished.

Whoosh!

In the end, the black figure disappeared like dust.

“.......”

Ceres's gaze grew increasingly cold as she watched it vanish.

Wasn't that ending far too anticlimactic compared to everything he had done?

It left her feeling hollow to think that so many people had lost their lives over such a long time because of that pathetic thing.

‘Or perhaps.......’

...Someone's curse had simply been that powerful.

Ceres slowly turned her gaze toward Eliette.

She had already known that Eliette's curses were quite powerful, but were they really strong enough to render a demon that helpless?

Shing.

Meanwhile, Kainel retrieved his sword from Veilks's heart.

And at that very moment, several people approached them.

Seeing who they were, Kainel's lips curved into an irritatingly smug smile.

“You're late.”

The three people stopped short at the sight of him.

They were the three dukes.

“Ceres!”

“Are you all right, sweetheart?”

The three dukes pointedly ignored Kainel and came straight toward her.

Watching them approach, Ceres gave a faint smile.

‘Haa.’

A silent sigh escaped her.

‘What a long day.’

Along with the relief of knowing that something had finally come to an end, a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her.

And Ceres's sigh grew even deeper.