ALL NOVEL Chapter 227: Harvest Festival (3)
Considering that the other party was none other than the White Devil, the one who’d always cause troubles recklessly, the danger was considerably higher than normal.
[...What is this…?]
The White Devil grabbed the dog collar on her neck with both her hands with a dumbfounded look.
Her expression suggested that she failed to understand what had been done to her. But, before she could get angry or something…
“Umph.”
While taking advantage of her unguarded state, I hung a ‘leash’ on the hook that protruded from the choker.
Well, I called it a leash, but this thing was made of an alloy of starsteel and ectoplasm that Professor Vulkan made while screaming.
In other words, this thing was strong enough that it wouldn’t break right away even if it came into contact with the Devils directly.
After that, I pulled it…
So that I could ‘pull this punk down’ to the ground.[...!]
She was crossing her arms mid-air when I pulled the leash, slamming her to the ground.
That would probably be the first time in her life that she had experienced something like this.
Being treated like an ‘animal’ by someone else like this, I meant…
With her body being slammed to the floor, her eyes widened in an instant. For a while, her eyes shook in confusion, but it soon glistened with rage as she sent me a burning gaze.
[What the hell are you doing…!]
The White Demonic Aura undulating nearby reacted to her command and seethed terrifyingly. I could feel a pressure strong enough to cause an ordinary human’s brain to boil the moment they saw it coming from all directions.
“...”
I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down.
At the end of the day, I was still a human, so there was no way that I wouldn’t be unaffected by her Aura. If I were to keep being exposed to it like this, I’d eventually fall into her control.
But…
There was ‘something that I could use’ on this punk.
I mean, in the past, back when we met an angel, I had suppressed this punk by using the Seal right before she went berserk.
Check this out.
System Message
[ Checking the stage of the Seal. ]
[ Confirmed to be Stage 2. ]
[ With·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ ̷̥͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̵̢̢̥̱̝̘̟͎̯̥̟͖̞͊͐͌̿̎̋̔̈́̃̕̚͘͜͟͝͞͞·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ ̷̥͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̵̢̢̥̱̝̘̟͎̯̥̟͖̞͊͐͌̿̎̋̔̈́̃̕̚͘͜͟͝͞͞ ‘s privilege, you will gain control over the Target! ]
[ Checking status of Target… ]
WARNING!
[ The Target is not the ‘Vessel’ but the Devil's ‘Main Body’. It is impossible to suppress it with the Seal of the current stage! ]
However, unlike back then, the same method didn't work since the target wasn't Yuria but the White Devil herself.
But it didn’t discourage me, as I took a deep breath before opening my mouth.
“Obey.”
You see, if the seal failed to work because the target was the White Devil instead of Yuria, then I just had to strengthen it.
As for how to do it…
The way the Seal worked was that it’d absorb a Devil’s Demonic Aura it came in contact with. Coincidentally, I was stickily entangled with the ‘most powerful’ Devil just a while ago.
“[My words.]”
A ‘polyphonic’ voice that wasn’t mine was mixed in my voice.
System Message
[ Using the Demonic Aura of ‘C̵̡̹̖̙̭͖̈́͐¾̸̧̥̬͈͇̹̘͕̠̮̩̙̎ð̸̞͖̋¾̶͕̻́̊̇î̸̙̪͎̥͎͍̲͔̔̈́̀̃͗́̚̚͠͠͝͠ ̵̨̛̠̟̲͔̟̔̍͛̈́°̶̨̙̠͆͋̔͛̒̀̾̆̉̏̕³̶̟̝̙͔̥̖̯̠̒̈̋̃̇̾̃̽̆̅͊͆̋̋’ which is in the ‘Fallen’s Seal’! ]
[ Endowing Target with ‘compelling power’! ]
[--!!!!]
After that…
The White Devil fell flat on the ground with her eyes wide open.
It was as if she was worshiping me, like a servant facing her king.
[What…!]
“I’ve told you.”
As she was gasping in shock, I approached her. Squatting down, I met her gaze at her eye level.
“If you keep causing trouble, I’d have no choice but to punish you.”
Upon hearing that, she gasped while barely raising only her head.
Not only were her eyes burning—they almost shone. Anger, bewilderment, humiliation, shame, all seemed to be mixed together in one place.
[Seal…! Gray, that…!]
Then, a killing intent that could probably skin people alive just by standing near it came out of her.
“...”
As expected, a Devil was a Devil.
I swear, if I were to ‘fight’ or do something along that line with this punk, I’d get my neck cut by her in under a second. That was how big the difference of ‘class’ was between us as Life Forms.
[That damn punk, I’m going to kill her, to my possession, to my partner, what did she…!!]
“I’m not your partner.”
However…
Right now, I was in control of this punk. There was no reason not to take advantage of it.
While wearing a big smile…
I slightly raised her face, who was wearing a dog collar while lying flat on the ground while panting.
“Call me master.”
[...]
Hearing that, the White Devil’s jaw dropped.
She looked as if she had just heard something she should’ve not heard.
[...What?]
That was the only thing that she barely managed to let out after being in a daze for a while.
She looked as if she wanted to ask me ‘Are you for real?’
“I said, from now on, call me master.”
I repeated in a low voice.
Then, I mixed in the ‘polyphonic’ in my next words.
“[This is an order.]”
[-!]
As soon as I said that…
The White Devil’s body flinched, as if she was struck by electric currents.
“Look at me.”
I held her chin and raised it up, forcing her to meet my gaze.
As if enjoying the humiliation, rage, and confusion on her trembling face that she couldn’t hide properly, I slowly scanned her face.
“Who am I?”
She bit her lip until it bled. I could see clearly how she was blushing to the tips of her ears from the embarrassment.
[...Mas…ter…]
“There you go. Good job.”
I said while patting her on the head.
With a smile still hanging on my face, I continued.
“It’s cute how obedient you are. Just like a pet dog.”
[...-! You…!]
As soon as she heard that, her pupils became thin slits.
This must’ve been the most pissed-off expression a Devil could make. If she wasn’t under my control, she would’ve actually done something to me.
However…
“[Huh, why does the dog—]”
I continued calmly.
“[-try to talk like a human?]”
The White Devil’s expression went blank in an instant.
It was as if she was trying to say, ‘No way…’.
As if she was thinking that no matter how crazy I was, there was no way I’d dare to do something like this to her.
“What are you doing?”
But, I ignored that and continued nonchalantly.
“I said you’re a dog right now.”
[...]
“[So, bark.]”
The White Devil’s pupils shook.
She then slowly lowered her head, as if she couldn’t keep her head up.
As her forehead touched the ground, she stayed still for a while.
[...Woof.]
Soon after…
Such a sound left her lips; It was clear how much she struggled to let it out though.
[Woof… Wooof…]
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Huh, so Devils’ could tear up too?
She was the White Devil, one of the most powerful beings in all dimensions.
Right now, in front of me, with a dog collar on, she was lying flat on the ground, sticking her forehead onto the ground.
In that pose, she started barking like a dog.
[Woof… Woof woof… Woof…]
Of course, between her barks, she threw me fierce glares here and there. Hell, I could even see killing intent in her gaze. If I didn’t keep a tight grip properly on her, I swear I’d faint the moment our eyes met.
However…
When I took just a step back and checked on her under such pressure…
I could see how hard she was blushing, and how she was about to cry from embarrassment due to her staying in that pose. This meant that she had no means to defy me right now.
There you go.
If the other person was Faenol, the one who possessed all the Fragments of the Red Devil, this method would never work since the Seal hadn’t developed enough yet.
Also, it would never work against Eleanor, since the Gray Devil was the one who imprinted this Seal on me.
Actually, if Yuria possessed one more Fragment inside her, there was a high chance that this method wouldn’t have worked against the White Devil.
But…
She only has one Fragment.
That’s why I can deal with her this easily.
So, what can you do now, huh?
What else can you do besides getting angry and annoyed at me? Besides shaking, helplessly, trying to hold your embarrassment, hm?
_…Huh? _
[Woof… Woof woof… Woo… Heuk… Eu… Geuk… Woo…oof…]
More time passed, now, even her pronunciation became unclear.
Her expression looked as if she was about to lose her mind. I could see her whole body was shaking.
Seeing how her fists were trembling greatly, I began to feel bad for her.
This was probably enough.
“Listen to me.”
I called out to her as I cleared my throat. At this point, it sounded almost as if she was sobbing.
“Don’t come out from Yuria’s body until I call you. Think of this as a probationary period for you. Got it?”
[...]
“If you promise me, I’ll stop giving you ‘punishments’.”
‘Promise’ was like a contract to the Devils. They could never break it themselves.
If she were to promise me that here, she’d never take over Yuria’s body as she liked.
“Answer.”
[...]
“Or maybe you want to keep going? I don’t mind ordering you to do this all night.”
[...I… Got it…]
Seeing the way she answered me while trembling, I let out a refreshing smile.
Good, she listened to me.
[...This bastard is accumulating bad karma again…]
“...”
[Didn’t you learn anything after getting squeezed out by the Gray Devil a while ago?]
Oh, come on Mister…
Stop saying weird things like that...
●
“...She went back in.”
I muttered while looking at the White Devil disappearing into Yuria.
It would take some time for the Demonic Aura this punk had let out as she went out to be cleared away, but to put it another way, it meant that I just had to wait for a bit for the surroundings to return to normal again.
As I dragged Yuria’s body and made her sit where she originally was, a voice suddenly came from the Soul Linker.
[Is this the means to deal with the Devils thing that you mentioned?]
…Well, it’s still incomplete.
I thought as such while looking at the Seal on my chest that was still pulsating.
Basically, the Seal had a function to allow me to interact with the Devils the closer I came into contact with them. The closer I got, the more possible ‘managing’ them would become.
I figured that since I was able to do that thing with the Gray Devil, I should be able to do this much somehow.
System Log
[ The ‘White Devil’ is obeying you. ]
[ The ‘Worship’ stack is boosted by one. ]
[ Once the stack is full, target will function as a part of ·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ ̷̥͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̵̢̢̥̱̝̘̟͎̯̥̟͖̞͊͐͌̿̎̋̔̈́̃̕̚͘͜͟͝͞͞·̶̛͈̪͚̹̺͖͉̪̇̎̃̏̃̎̚͡ͅ ̷̥͉̞͎̯̥̫̳̻͆͊̉̀̾͘͞·̴̵̢̢̥̱̝̘̟͎̯̥̟͖̞͊͐͌̿̎̋̔̈́̃̕̚͘͜͟͝͞͞ ! ]
[ There are currently two ‘Worship’ stacks! One stack remaining before it’s completely filled! ]
How this Worship stack rose after I made the White Devil obey me proved my conjecture.
I assumed that a new function or something would be unlocked until I filled it up.
Which meant…
_…I guess I'll have to come into contact with them more frequently from now on. _
After all, it was the Devils who held the casting vote in the story, and this seal was the most important means to lead them directly to the ‘Happy Ending’ I had in mind.
So, the thing I needed to do the most was to enhance my abilities while coming into contact with them.
[...You sure the White Devil wouldn’t just try to kill you immediately the next time you meet her?]
_…Probably, yeah? _
Even if she wouldn’t actually kill me, she’d probably do something close to that.
Gray Devil’s Demonic Aura could only control this punk once, so it would be best for me to not meet her for a while.
At least until I had another means to control this punk again.
[By the way, you were saying that you’d need to come into contact with the Devils more frequently, right?]
Yeah?
[So, will you be doing the same thing you did to the White Devil to the other—]
…Stop painting me like a crazy pervert! Why the hell is that even a question?!
[You're not denying it…]
“...”
Well, you know…
Sometimes, I’d need to use such a rough means for punks like the White Devil, who just wouldn’t listen to me no matter what. I had no choice, okay?
And there was also someone who became the reason I needed to activate the Seal functions as soon as possible, even if I had to do it by doing something like this.
“...”
I slightly squinted my eyes and looked up at the 2nd floor where I was standing just now.
Marquis Bogut was already nowhere to be seen.
Until just now, he had been watching from that place.
It seemed like he went away as soon as I managed to suppress the White Devil.
I had a feeling that he wanted to ‘check it out’, I guess that was true after all, huh?
If he didn’t, he wouldn’t need to see what I did before disappearing.
“...”
Come to think of it.
What the hell was that bastard?
Like, that bastard wasn’t affected by the White Devil’s Demonic Aura.
In my case, I had the Seal and some Skills that helped with it.
As for Cecilia the 11th, she was a Devil’s Vessel.
What was it that he had? How could he be unaffected by Yuria’s Demonic Aura?
…What an annoying fucker.
He was also the main villain in Chapter 5, but… The ‘ominous’ vibe he gave off was at the same level as the Prophet.
It was as if there was more to him than playing such a role.
As I thought while letting out a sigh…
“...You.”
A voice that suddenly came from beside me made me promptly turn my head.
It was Her Imperial Majesty the Empress. Her eyes, which were always half-closed, were now opened wide in shock.
She looked as if she couldn't comprehend the situation just now.
“...Are you okay, Your Imperial Majesty?”
I asked while letting out a bitter smile.
Come to think of it, she hadn't even realized that she was a Devil's Vessel.
It was natural that she couldn't understand a single thing, from what was going on to the result of what I had just done…
“You have a little more extreme taste than I thought…?”
“...”
“Are you going to make me do things like that too later…?”
“...”
“Please give me a word in advance if you’re going to do it so that I could mentally prepare myself—”
_Cecilia the 11th, woman… _
What the fuck are you on about…?