Chapter 264
Chapter 264. The Devil of Jealousy
A dark blue liquid splattered everywhere, soaking Jillia’s upper body.
The mass of flesh that was once Emelgias fell to the ground with a thud and a splash.
And then—
“Ugh… Ah…”
He groaned.
“Well…”
Jillia, blinking in surprise, picked it up.
With a slurp, the skin peeled away, nearly slipping from her grip. She extended her tongue and licked up the dark blue blood, and there—
“I never thought you’d survive.”
Instead of the Demon Race’s signature blue skin, there were fine scales all over.
Emelgias’s appearance had drastically changed. His body was covered in reptilian scales, his eyes were darkened and hollow, with vertically elongated pupils. Above all, what was most abnormal was that, quite literally, he seemed to have lost all his bones, or perhaps—like a snake—his body was all floppy.
“Ugh… Uuuh…”
His gaze was unfocused, spilling dark blue liquid from the corners of his mouth. It was clear he was experiencing a severe loss of self-awareness.
“Oh dear… How pitiful. You’ve turned into quite the fool.”
Jillia, with a frown, then smiled as if recovering her composure.
“But now we can be together forever. I’ll take good care of you.”
With a bloody hand, Jillia affectionately patted Emelgias’s head, tightening her body around him like she was squeezing her prey.
“U… What… happened to me…?”
But at that moment, Emelgias regained his consciousness.
“Oh my.”
Startled, she released her grip, and once again, Emelgias’s eyes lost their reason, starting to groan, “Uuuh…”
“………”
Jillia kept hugging him and releasing him a few times. Whenever she hugged him, his consciousness would awaken, but the moment she let go, his reason would fade.
“Stop… don’t play with me.”
Eventually, as she held him, Emelgias managed to protest with a gasp.
“So, you’re still aware.”
“I don’t know… Every time Jillia lets go, my head feels hazy, like I’ve become a fool…”
“Hmm, it seems there was too much strain. Your soul’s vessel is broken, and you can’t maintain your identity.”
Wrapped tightly in Jillia’s embrace, the only part of Emelgias free to move was his neck, which he tilted in confusion.
“So why can I talk right now?”
“Because I’m holding you. Like this, gently.”
As Jillia tightened her grip, she lovingly stroked Emelgias’s hair while grinning.
“I’m picking up the broken vessel and holding the broken sides together. If I let go, it’ll crack open instantly. Your self will also become blurred…”
“That means…”
Emelgias was left speechless.
Accepting Jillia’s powers beyond his limits—he felt a sensation of breaking his own ‘shell.’ He sensed magic more closely than before. He could feel her powers filling his entire being.
However, that shell was also essential to maintaining ‘Emelgias.’ To construct the current Emelgias, it was necessary for there to be an amorphous mass of magic. Jillia, his progenitor, supported that mass, allowing him to barely regain his original self.
“Then… if I go back to the real world like this… I will…”
“Your spirit will be like that of a baby.”
Jillia giggled.
“Even if you go through the Dark Portal, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get home.”
“…What?”
“Because right now, you’re already half a devil.”
Jillia bluntly stated the shocking truth.
“You came alone, right? If someone is waiting for you there, that’s another story, but if not—”
“My family should be waiting for me…”
“Hmm. In that case, you might make it.”
Jillia embraced Emelgias from behind, resting her chin on his head while she pondered.
“…Do you really want to go back?”
“Of course…! But if I lose my self…”
Although he replied biting back, Emelgias’s words trailed off. Ironically, even in this state where Jillia constrained him and he couldn’t move much, his body felt light as a feather, as if he had become one with the wind.
He understood how to wield power. He could grasp the essence of magic intuitively. If he returned to the real world like this, he was confident he would handle the powers of a devil much better than before.
But that too… would mean—
“—It’s not like you won’t have hands.”
At that point, Jillia chuckled ominously.
“I’ll go to the real world with you. And I’ll tightly bind your soul’s vessel, maintaining your self.”
Emelgias shot up his head. Was that even possible?
“Since you’ve accepted my powers this much, I can surely create a place for myself within your soul. If I can avoid materializing, I can stay in the real world while saving magic.”
“……You want to take up residence inside me?”
Looking up at Jillia, whose body blended with the trees, Emelgias asked anxiously, gazing at the snake’s body, its tail nowhere in sight.
“Of course, I can’t take everything; it’d be like moving a forest. But if it’s just a part of it, it might be possible. I’ll have to work hard too, but I think I can do it. Especially with you now.”
Then she leaned in closer to Emelgias’s face, grinning widely.
“So, I’ll create a place for myself inside you. It might hurt a little, but you can endure it, right?”
“……!”
Emelgias grimaced involuntarily, thinking that he would endure that agony once more, the agony of being torn apart and meticulously shredded all over again…!?
“W-wait—”
Jillia bit into Emelgias’s neck. The toxic fangs poured in powers, transforming his insides—
“Gaaaahhh—!!”
Shaking and trembling, Emelgias could only scream in agony.
†††
A man, covered in sluggish scales, was being dragged along by a snake-like woman with a lower body.
Emelgias, in his muddled thoughts, felt as if he were observing someone else.
“Oh, this is unusual. Jillia is coming out of the forest.”
A gentleman in a tailcoat turned, standing near the Dark Portal.
“Jillia, have you gotten a bit shorter?”
“I managed to detach just a part. I’m going to the real world with him.”
“That’s good. Have fun.”
With a flourish of his sleeve, the gentleman waved.
“You seem to have found a good contractor; I envy you.”
“Oh my, to envy the Devil of Jealousy. I can’t let myself be outdone.”
With a chuckle, the snake woman said, “Well then, see you later,” as she tucked Emelgias under her arm and leaped into the Dark Portal without hesitation.
Everything swirled, wriggled, white and black flipped over.
The warmth of the Devil of Jealousy that Emelgias had felt faded away, no—melted away and became one, and then—
“Gah!”
He was thrown onto the hard ground. The solid, coarse sensation made him vaguely realize he was rolling on cobblestones.
“Young Master!!”
A familiar yet strangely unfamiliar female voice called out.
“What’s wrong!? Are you okay!?”
“U… I’m fine…”
Rejecting her hand, which was trying to help him up, half unconsciously, Emelgias responded.
It felt as though his body didn’t belong to him anymore… not in a bad way. It felt light—so light.
As if he had transformed into the wind, that refreshing sensation remained. He stood up easily. Manipulating the laws of nature felt easier than ever. The world was bending to his will; adjusting would probably take some time—
At the same time, he realized he could think perfectly fine.
“Young Master…!?”
His aide, Hysidia, gasped in shock. She stared at him in awe, eyes wide.
Emelgias approached a nearby shop surrounding the Dark Portal and checked his reflection in the window.
His skin remained unchanged and blue. However, there were bruises here and there that resembled scales.
And his eyes.
They were blackened, with vertically elongated pupils. Just like a snake—
“Hehe. It seems to have worked.”
Jillia’s voice echoed deep within his chest.
“—So let’s continue to get along well, Emelgias.”
Thus, the Fourth Demon Lord’s Prince Emelgias Izanis successfully returned to the real world.
