༺ Curing Poison With Poison (1) ༻
Tatiana gently caressed the necklace hanging around her neck.
Before her eyes was the body of Alan, writhing with tentacles embedded all over. As a turquoise light leaked from the necklace, the movements of those tentacles grew increasingly violent.
She could hear the sounds coming from under the sea. The wicked voice that echoed in her ears.
‘Just a little…longer…’
It wouldn’t take long until the entity she served would be summoned.
With that in mind, Tatiana accelerated the progression of the ‘ritual’, taking in a deep breath.
Considering she promised a one-day grace period, this was no different from hitting him from behind, completely blindsiding him.
However…
‘…If I don’t do this much…’
She wasn’t certain she could kill that man definitively.
Though she hated to admit it, Dowd Campbell was a human of freakish capabilities.
Even if he had not tried to kill Dowd outright, that man had still fought and defeated the Boy King.
In terms of strength, he was one of the most powerful ‘Chosen Ones’, the most capable beings among the Devil Worshippers.
Few could face him in a direct confrontation and win.
[Yo, Apostle.]
“…”
However…
How did the saying go? Speak of the devil and he doth appear?
Someone who could almost certainly match the Boy King in a direct duel was now contacting her.
Tatiana pushed her eyes open with great difficulty, looking at the screen that appeared beside her.
The man on the screen was draped in all sorts of ornaments. Although he looked somewhat nouveau riche externally, Tatiana, who knew his true nature, could not help but snort at his shallow disguise.
[Are you struggling? Need my help?]
His tone was incomparably frivolous.
She could vividly feel him belittling her desperate efforts in conducting the ritual.
As if questioning why she was pouring so much of her energy into such a meaningless chore.
“…”
However, instead of responding with anger, Tatiana kept her mouth shut.
Even the Prophet acknowledged him as the ‘worst human in the world’,
A villain that even the Prophet, who dreamt of the resurrections of the Devils and the destruction of the world, was amazed at.
That was the extent of the ‘malice’ and ‘karma’ contained in this man.
In other words…
He was an existence who had the unbelievable strength to have survived without repercussions, even after gaining all of such titles.
The most powerful Cursed Speech User in history.
The culprit who made the Boy King wander for ages while burdened by an entire kingdom.
“…What is it, Talker?”
[Nah, it’s just a message from the boss.]
The man known as Talker responded with a grin.
[Boss said you can play your little games if you want, but you shouldn’t forget the original goal.]
“…”
[Killing that man is all well and good, but we didn’t give you the ‘Seal’ just for that. You know that as well, right?”]
At that, Tatiana turned her head, glancing at Alan.
In case a Devil went berserk, there was a means to ‘control’ it temporarily.
Said means was the artifact that replaced this man’s heart.
Probably, it would only work once, and even then, it wouldn’t last long, but…
It was definitely powerful enough to ‘hold back’ the Grey Devil inside Lady Tristan, even if she went berserk.
And she clearly remembered what the Prophet had told her when handing it over.
[You just need to do your part as a water ghost well.]
Talk continued with a smirk.
[The boss and I will handle the really important stuff. Got it?]
Tatiana bit her lip until it bled.
The Prophet had instructed her to ‘just hold that man back’.
As if implying that they only expected her desperate efforts to ‘kill’ that man to result in that trivial outcome.
And that Tatiana, the Apostle of the Reversed Sea, could never kill that man even if she were to use everything she possessed.
It was almost as if they had that much trust in the capabilities of that man.
“…”
The Prophet regarded that man as… ‘Important’ to a suspicious degree.
Despite having only recently met face to face…
The Prophet’s attitude seemed as if they had known that man for a very long time.
‘…It should have been me…’
She should have been the one to receive such attention.
She should have been the one to earn such a degree of trust from that being.
These thoughts pounded in her head like crazy, but Tatiana’s voice that trickled out was still apathetic, as if those thoughts didn’t affect her at all.
“I already know, Talker.”
[Oi, is that all? We haven’t seen each other in a while, so can’t we at least greet each other—]
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, then farewell.”
With that, Tatiana ended the call.
This frivolous man had a weird tendency to hit on women as soon as he saw them. Was he really trying to act just like his appearance?
There were much more important things to do than talking to such a man.
She formed a Cursed Mark on her hand.
It was a spell that showed a predetermined location on a screen.
From now on, the cursed Krakens, the vanguard of the Deep Sawn that were about to attack and cause chaos in the academy, should—
“…?”
—appear there. And they did.
The problem, though, was that they were ripped into pieces and turned into huge chunks of flesh floating nearby.
Tatiana’s expression instantly went blank.
“…”
‘What is going on?’
‘What the fuck is going on?’
Those entities should normally be powerful enough to laughably breach the academy’s defenses.
At the very least, it was safe to assume that there was no one inside this academy who could easily face them at this time.
Perhaps if it was Kasa Garda at her prime, she could have stopped them, but she had already been incapacitated according to the Prophet’s commands, having all her limbs cut off.
‘Who could have possibly done this?’
“…”
Fortunately, her question was soon answered.
Not long after she started to shift the screen around, her eyes caught someone running on the surface of the sea.
When she saw the ‘blue aura’ emitting from that person’s entire body, her eyes widened.
She was all too aware of what that meant.
Demonic Aura so vile that one could only witness it when a Devil’s Vessel was on the verge of going berserk.
‘…Dowd Campbell.’
‘This, this crazy motherfucker…!’
Tatiana gritted her teeth.
She was, of course, aware that there were more Devil’s Vessels inside this academy besides Lady Tristan.
However, she could never have imagined he would go this far.
After all, wasn’t his goal was to ‘survive?’
‘How in the world is he planning to clean up that mess…?!’
If the ‘Devil of Wrath’ was this enraged, it was safe to assume that the survival rate of the person who caused it converges to practically 0.
Even being desperate had its limit. For him to actually make a Devil go berserk just to fend off her assault…
‘…Damn it.’
Since he went to such crazy lengths, it put her in a difficult spot.
After all, she needed that man alive until she could kill him with her own hands.
Only then could she fulfill the mission the Prophet had given her. Only then could she properly demonstrate her ‘capabilities’.
‘…Don’t you dare die, Dowd Campbell.”
Tatiana clenched her teeth and began adjusting the Array she was forming through the ritual.
Originally, she intended to summon the Demonic Creatures in a formation that encircled all sides of the academy, but now, she focused them all in one place.
She had to slow that person down, even if it was just by a little.
‘Stay alive until I kill you!’
…Though Tatiana felt that something was definitely strange…
It was self-evident that she had no choice.
—is what she is most likely thinking.
And since that was the case, she’d most likely summon the Demonic Creatures in the direction Riru was currently approaching from.
After all, If I died within the time given by her as a grace period, it would mean she had failed the mission the Prophet entrusted to her.
[ Main Quest ]
〖 Chapter 3: Apostle of the Reversed Sea 〗
[ 15H left until the ‘Great Duel’ Incident! ]
[ The boss battle will follow immediately after the incident in question! ]
As evidence of that, the countdown timer on this window was not decreasing with the usual bullshit about how it was an emergency or whatever.
At the very least, during this time, Tatiana would do her very best to block Riru.
This was some all-time stonks.
[…You’re really cunning.]
“…”
[Ah, I see how it is now. It doesn’t matter if she’s an enemy or not. Since she’s a woman, of course you’d try to fiddle around with her to your heart’s—]
You. Shut up.
I transmitted such words into Soul Linker and finished my sentence.
“…So this concludes it.”
I stopped manipulating the simulation, ending my lengthy explanation.
The War Chiefs nearby were all silent.
They seemed unsure how to react to what I had just laid out.
“You’re one crazy motherfucker, aren’t you?”
“…”
It seemed they were speechless, not because they didn’t know what to say, but because they were dumbfounded.
That assumption of mine seemed to be correct as they showed their agreement to Hatan’s voice that was mixed with a snort of incredulous laughter.
“The plan itself makes sense, though.”
“Yeah. It’s so impressive that I wonder how an outsider knows so much about the functions of our academy, from A to Z. But…”
Hatan continued with a sigh.
“You just said those wrecked Krakens were the ‘First Summoning’, right?”
“Yes.”
As I mentioned earlier, the Apostle of the Reversed Sea Boss Battle was in the form of tower defense.
Following those, other Demonic Creatures would continually be summoned, descending upon the academy.
“Yeah. I get that monsters strong enough to call those things ‘chumps’ will pop out, but…”
Hatan continued with an incredulous voice.
“How many people did you say are being deployed on that front?”
“Five.”
Me. Iliya. Yuria. Saintess Lucia. And Talion.
Eleanor could not come. After all, the opponent would surely have ‘prepared’ for her.
It was actually better to leave her alone… Especially considering the ‘aftermath’ of the boss battle.
“…You’re saying five students will take that on.”
“Yes.”
“Are you joking right now? What can you do with just five—”
“No, no. You’re taking it the wrong way.”
I cut off Hatan’s doubts instantly and responded.
“It’s not just five people. Five people is enough.”
“…”
My confident answer silenced the room once again.
[…I see why Luca said that about you now.]
Utad’s sentence broke the long silence.
“Excuse me?”
[He told me to keep an eye on you. He said that though you’re crazier than a lunatic, if I kept watching, I would definitely realize something.]
“…”
Did he really go around saying that?
“…Have you realized anything then?”
[Certainly. I’ll tell you later.]
With that, Utad smirked and continued.
[For now, I second it. We don’t have the right to refuse anyway.]
“Utad. Are you being serious?”
[I am serious, Hatan. I want to bet on this audacious young man.]
“…Tch.”
Hatan clicked his tongue while scratching his head.
“I don’t know. Do whatever you want.”
With that…
The other War Chiefs also showed various reactions of agreement, be it sighs or something else.
The only one who remained silent until the end was Velua, but so what?
He already lost the bet to me, so he had no say anyway.
“But, while we move according to your plan…What will you do?”
Hatan’s question made me frown reflexively.
“…I have something to do.”
“Yeah, okay. I get that. So, what is it?”
“Finding a way to survive.”
No matter how much Tatiana slowed Riru’s speed of approach…
In the end, it was quite self-explanatory that Riru was rushing at full speed to smash apart my head.
In essence, I also had to find a way to stop that.
“…Uh, how should I put it…”
I continued with a grim tone.
“I have someone I need to nag, so that they get extremely infuriated.”
“…What?”
Hatan responded incredulously, but…
I was serious.
I needed someone else to get as angry as Riru, no…
I needed someone to get even angrier than her, so that they would rush to kill me.
System Log
[ Target ‘Yuria’ is becoming more adept at utilizing the Devil’s Power. ]
[ The target’s Stage 1 Fusion Rate has reached 99%. ]
[ The second Fragment of the ‘White Devil’ will soon appear. Related events are updated! ]
Alright.
It’s your turn, Punk.
༺ Curing Poison With Poison (1) ༻
Tatiana gently caressed the necklace hanging around her neck.
Before her eyes was the body of Alan, writhing with tentacles embedded all over. As a turquoise light leaked from the necklace, the movements of those tentacles grew increasingly violent.
She could hear the sounds coming from under the sea. The wicked voice that echoed in her ears.
‘Just a little…longer…’
It wouldn’t take long until the entity she served would be summoned.
With that in mind, Tatiana accelerated the progression of the ‘ritual’, taking in a deep breath.
Considering she promised a one-day grace period, this was no different from hitting him from behind, completely blindsiding him.
However…
‘…If I don’t do this much…’
She wasn’t certain she could kill that man definitively.
Though she hated to admit it, Dowd Campbell was a human of freakish capabilities.
Even if he had not tried to kill Dowd outright, that man had still fought and defeated the Boy King.
In terms of strength, he was one of the most powerful ‘Chosen Ones’, the most capable beings among the Devil Worshippers.
Few could face him in a direct confrontation and win.
[Yo, Apostle.]
“…”
However…
How did the saying go? Speak of the devil and he doth appear?
Someone who could almost certainly match the Boy King in a direct duel was now contacting her.
Tatiana pushed her eyes open with great difficulty, looking at the screen that appeared beside her.
The man on the screen was draped in all sorts of ornaments. Although he looked somewhat nouveau riche externally, Tatiana, who knew his true nature, could not help but snort at his shallow disguise.
[Are you struggling? Need my help?]
His tone was incomparably frivolous.
She could vividly feel him belittling her desperate efforts in conducting the ritual.
As if questioning why she was pouring so much of her energy into such a meaningless chore.
“…”
However, instead of responding with anger, Tatiana kept her mouth shut.
Even the Prophet acknowledged him as the ‘worst human in the world’,
A villain that even the Prophet, who dreamt of the resurrections of the Devils and the destruction of the world, was amazed at.
That was the extent of the ‘malice’ and ‘karma’ contained in this man.
In other words…
He was an existence who had the unbelievable strength to have survived without repercussions, even after gaining all of such titles.
The most powerful Cursed Speech User in history.
The culprit who made the Boy King wander for ages while burdened by an entire kingdom.
“…What is it, Talker?”
[Nah, it’s just a message from the boss.]
The man known as Talker responded with a grin.
[Boss said you can play your little games if you want, but you shouldn’t forget the original goal.]
“…”
[Killing that man is all well and good, but we didn’t give you the ‘Seal’ just for that. You know that as well, right?”]
At that, Tatiana turned her head, glancing at Alan.
In case a Devil went berserk, there was a means to ‘control’ it temporarily.
Said means was the artifact that replaced this man’s heart.
Probably, it would only work once, and even then, it wouldn’t last long, but…
It was definitely powerful enough to ‘hold back’ the Grey Devil inside Lady Tristan, even if she went berserk.
And she clearly remembered what the Prophet had told her when handing it over.
[You just need to do your part as a water ghost well.]
Talk continued with a smirk.
[The boss and I will handle the really important stuff. Got it?]
Tatiana bit her lip until it bled.
The Prophet had instructed her to ‘just hold that man back’.
As if implying that they only expected her desperate efforts to ‘kill’ that man to result in that trivial outcome.
And that Tatiana, the Apostle of the Reversed Sea, could never kill that man even if she were to use everything she possessed.
It was almost as if they had that much trust in the capabilities of that man.
“…”
The Prophet regarded that man as… ‘Important’ to a suspicious degree.
Despite having only recently met face to face…
The Prophet’s attitude seemed as if they had known that man for a very long time.
‘…It should have been me…’
She should have been the one to receive such attention.
She should have been the one to earn such a degree of trust from that being.
These thoughts pounded in her head like crazy, but Tatiana’s voice that trickled out was still apathetic, as if those thoughts didn’t affect her at all.
“I already know, Talker.”
[Oi, is that all? We haven’t seen each other in a while, so can’t we at least greet each other—]
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, then farewell.”
With that, Tatiana ended the call.
This frivolous man had a weird tendency to hit on women as soon as he saw them. Was he really trying to act just like his appearance?
There were much more important things to do than talking to such a man.
She formed a Cursed Mark on her hand.
It was a spell that showed a predetermined location on a screen.
From now on, the cursed Krakens, the vanguard of the Deep Sawn that were about to attack and cause chaos in the academy, should—
“…?”
—appear there. And they did.
The problem, though, was that they were ripped into pieces and turned into huge chunks of flesh floating nearby.
Tatiana’s expression instantly went blank.
“…”
‘What is going on?’
‘What the fuck is going on?’
Those entities should normally be powerful enough to laughably breach the academy’s defenses.
At the very least, it was safe to assume that there was no one inside this academy who could easily face them at this time.
Perhaps if it was Kasa Garda at her prime, she could have stopped them, but she had already been incapacitated according to the Prophet’s commands, having all her limbs cut off.
‘Who could have possibly done this?’
“…”
Fortunately, her question was soon answered.
Not long after she started to shift the screen around, her eyes caught someone running on the surface of the sea.
When she saw the ‘blue aura’ emitting from that person’s entire body, her eyes widened.
She was all too aware of what that meant.
Demonic Aura so vile that one could only witness it when a Devil’s Vessel was on the verge of going berserk.
‘…Dowd Campbell.’
‘This, this crazy motherfucker…!’
Tatiana gritted her teeth.
She was, of course, aware that there were more Devil’s Vessels inside this academy besides Lady Tristan.
However, she could never have imagined he would go this far.
After all, wasn’t his goal was to ‘survive?’
‘How in the world is he planning to clean up that mess…?!’
If the ‘Devil of Wrath’ was this enraged, it was safe to assume that the survival rate of the person who caused it converges to practically 0.
Even being desperate had its limit. For him to actually make a Devil go berserk just to fend off her assault…
‘…Damn it.’
Since he went to such crazy lengths, it put her in a difficult spot.
After all, she needed that man alive until she could kill him with her own hands.
Only then could she fulfill the mission the Prophet had given her. Only then could she properly demonstrate her ‘capabilities’.
‘…Don’t you dare die, Dowd Campbell.”
Tatiana clenched her teeth and began adjusting the Array she was forming through the ritual.
Originally, she intended to summon the Demonic Creatures in a formation that encircled all sides of the academy, but now, she focused them all in one place.
She had to slow that person down, even if it was just by a little.
‘Stay alive until I kill you!’
…Though Tatiana felt that something was definitely strange…
It was self-evident that she had no choice.
—is what she is most likely thinking.
And since that was the case, she’d most likely summon the Demonic Creatures in the direction Riru was currently approaching from.
After all, If I died within the time given by her as a grace period, it would mean she had failed the mission the Prophet entrusted to her.
[ Main Quest ]
〖 Chapter 3: Apostle of the Reversed Sea 〗
[ 15H left until the ‘Great Duel’ Incident! ]
[ The boss battle will follow immediately after the incident in question! ]
As evidence of that, the countdown timer on this window was not decreasing with the usual bullshit about how it was an emergency or whatever.
At the very least, during this time, Tatiana would do her very best to block Riru.
This was some all-time stonks.
[…You’re really cunning.]
“…”
[Ah, I see how it is now. It doesn’t matter if she’s an enemy or not. Since she’s a woman, of course you’d try to fiddle around with her to your heart’s—]
You. Shut up.
I transmitted such words into Soul Linker and finished my sentence.
“…So this concludes it.”
I stopped manipulating the simulation, ending my lengthy explanation.
The War Chiefs nearby were all silent.
They seemed unsure how to react to what I had just laid out.
“You’re one crazy motherfucker, aren’t you?”
“…”
It seemed they were speechless, not because they didn’t know what to say, but because they were dumbfounded.
That assumption of mine seemed to be correct as they showed their agreement to Hatan’s voice that was mixed with a snort of incredulous laughter.
“The plan itself makes sense, though.”
“Yeah. It’s so impressive that I wonder how an outsider knows so much about the functions of our academy, from A to Z. But…”
Hatan continued with a sigh.
“You just said those wrecked Krakens were the ‘First Summoning’, right?”
“Yes.”
As I mentioned earlier, the Apostle of the Reversed Sea Boss Battle was in the form of tower defense.
Following those, other Demonic Creatures would continually be summoned, descending upon the academy.
“Yeah. I get that monsters strong enough to call those things ‘chumps’ will pop out, but…”
Hatan continued with an incredulous voice.
“How many people did you say are being deployed on that front?”
“Five.”
Me. Iliya. Yuria. Saintess Lucia. And Talion.
Eleanor could not come. After all, the opponent would surely have ‘prepared’ for her.
It was actually better to leave her alone… Especially considering the ‘aftermath’ of the boss battle.
“…You’re saying five students will take that on.”
“Yes.”
“Are you joking right now? What can you do with just five—”
“No, no. You’re taking it the wrong way.”
I cut off Hatan’s doubts instantly and responded.
“It’s not just five people. Five people is enough.”
“…”
My confident answer silenced the room once again.
[…I see why Luca said that about you now.]
Utad’s sentence broke the long silence.
“Excuse me?”
[He told me to keep an eye on you. He said that though you’re crazier than a lunatic, if I kept watching, I would definitely realize something.]
“…”
Did he really go around saying that?
“…Have you realized anything then?”
[Certainly. I’ll tell you later.]
With that, Utad smirked and continued.
[For now, I second it. We don’t have the right to refuse anyway.]
“Utad. Are you being serious?”
[I am serious, Hatan. I want to bet on this audacious young man.]
“…Tch.”
Hatan clicked his tongue while scratching his head.
“I don’t know. Do whatever you want.”
With that…
The other War Chiefs also showed various reactions of agreement, be it sighs or something else.
The only one who remained silent until the end was Velua, but so what?
He already lost the bet to me, so he had no say anyway.
“But, while we move according to your plan…What will you do?”
Hatan’s question made me frown reflexively.
“…I have something to do.”
“Yeah, okay. I get that. So, what is it?”
“Finding a way to survive.”
No matter how much Tatiana slowed Riru’s speed of approach…
In the end, it was quite self-explanatory that Riru was rushing at full speed to smash apart my head.
In essence, I also had to find a way to stop that.
“…Uh, how should I put it…”
I continued with a grim tone.
“I have someone I need to nag, so that they get extremely infuriated.”
“…What?”
Hatan responded incredulously, but…
I was serious.
I needed someone else to get as angry as Riru, no…
I needed someone to get even angrier than her, so that they would rush to kill me.
System Log
[ Target ‘Yuria’ is becoming more adept at utilizing the Devil’s Power. ]
[ The target’s Stage 1 Fusion Rate has reached 99%. ]
[ The second Fragment of the ‘White Devil’ will soon appear. Related events are updated! ]
Alright.
It’s your turn, Punk.
