Let the Whales Fight, This Shrimp is Leaving! - Chapter 9

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 9
I flung open the door at the end of the corridor. It was the room where I had drawn the spare Magic Circle.
I locked it behind me immediately and pressed my back against the wood.
My breath hitched, and my heart hammered so hard it felt ready to burst. I couldn’t even tell if it was from anxiety or sheer adrenaline.
‘No time to waste.’
I threw the whole candle directly onto the pre-drawn Magic Circle.
Flames caught instantly, tracing the lines of the array.
“Phew…”
Sinking down before the blazing fire, I uncurled my clenched fists.
“It’s fine.”
This is exactly what I wanted.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I thrust my hands right into the pit of fire.
Searing heat engulfed them, and the blood from Deyan that smeared my palms was instantly devoured by the flames.
“Ugh…!”
I rubbed my blood-soaked palms hard against the Magic Circle.
Having accomplished my purpose, I yanked my hands back in a hurry, though I couldn’t avoid the burns.
They throbbed and stung with a fierce heat, as if they were still trapped inside the furnace.
‘It doesn’t hurt at all.’
Hypnotizing myself with the lie, I waited for the Magic Circle to alter.
Having swallowed the appropriate offering, the array began to flicker and warp.
“If you desire to claim my soul, then answer my wish.”
Tear through my flesh, draw out my soul, and swallow it to fulfill my deepest, most intense longing.
I chanted the summoning invocation I had memorized until I was sick of it.
The magenta light that had consumed the flames slowly drifted upward, shimmering. Soon after, an unidentified smoke began to seep from the Magic Circle.
The smoke spread outward like black ink dropped into water.
It gradually filled the room, resembling the mist over a lakeside at dawn.
‘—A floral scent?’
The black smoke carried a sweet, floral fragrance I had never encountered before in my life. It was so cloying that I felt myself unconsciously drawn toward it…
It was entirely different from what I had envisioned.
‘What’s happening?’
The smoke, which had been nothing more than a mist, thickened into dark storm clouds, and those dark clouds gradually coalesced into a single form.
“Step back!”
Deyan, who had pursued me relentlessly, smashed through the door and burst inside.
Though he huffed and puffed with a boiling murderous intent, he pushed me behind him and scrambled to erase the Magic Circle on the floor.
“No!”
I clung to Deyan’s sleeve, dragging my weight against him.
“Don’t interfere!”
“Do not be foolish, Lady Hubert!”
He snatched my wrist and bellowed at me.
“You haven’t experienced it, so you simply do not know. You aren’t afraid because you don’t understand what kind of price must be paid, or how you will have to pay it!”
“What do you know!”
My own anger flared, and I screamed right back.
The wrist he gripped hurt as if it might snap, but the throbbing ache in my heart cut far deeper.
“You don’t know a thing about why I’m going this far! You’ve always been on the side of the strong, so shut your mouth!”
There was no price left for me to pay.
No, I had already paid it.
Mulling over that day again and again until I was hollow, I realized the truth. Everything precious to me had been reduced to a mere empty shell.
Refilling that void was my responsibility alone.
“What more could I possibly have to pay here!”
I had already lost everything there was to lose, so I had nothing left to fear.
There was only what I could do, and what I had to do.
If I couldn’t reclaim what was stolen from me, shouldn’t I at least exact revenge to soothe my resentment?
“So, stop getting in my way.”
“…”
My eyes had been stinging for a while now. The emotions I had forcibly suppressed seemed to be leaking out.
Catching sight of this, Deyan’s eyes wavered momentarily.
Taking advantage of the sudden slackening of the man’s grip, I shoved him away and stood before the Magic Circle.
The black smoke was now taking on a human shape.
The section that presumably formed the Demon’s face looked down at me.
[…Your name?]
“Idir Hubert.”
[Your desire?]
“Revenge.”
The moment I answered, the Demon’s mouth split into a wide grin.
The crescent-like smile, which looked as though it were drenched in crimson blood, was filled with pure amusement.
[Is that so?]
The smoke wavered.
Just when it seemed the dense form was dispersing back into a mist, someone stepped casually out from within it.
[I am Beval.]
Boasting long legs, sleekly toned muscles, and a slender silhouette, the Demon possessed a beautiful appearance.
His swaying pink hair resembled peach blossoms in full bloom during late spring, and the magenta eyes nestled beneath matched the vibrant color of fresh fruit.
No hideous, pointed fangs were visible along his thin lips.
If not for his low voice, his appearance was enchanting enough to blur the lines of gender entirely.
The Demon lightly tapped my chin with his index finger, bringing his face close to mine.
There was no warmth in his dark finger.
[I am the Demon you summoned.]
He was close enough for our breaths to mingle, yet I couldn’t feel the Demon’s respiration.
Perhaps my own breath had hitched as well.
From the very moment the Demon touched me, my body had frozen and all thoughts had ground to a halt.
[Idir, let me ask you one thing.]
“…”
[Who is the owner of the blood you offered to me as a sacrifice?]
The Demon’s eyes narrowed into a sly, curved slant.
My breath caught in my throat, leaving me speechless. Like a lamb facing a massive threat, the best I could do was hold my breath and refuse to look away.
‘So this is a Demon…’
The Demon was more beautiful than I had imagined, and far more dangerous.
[Answer me.]
Or so it seemed.
[Answer what, exactly?]
Until this irritable voice cut in. I hastily lowered my head.
Suddenly, a cluster of light erupted from near my chest as if it were exploding.
[What…!]
The source of the light was the Angel Statue Necklace I was wearing.
It vibrated violently, hovering halfway in midair.
[Step away from the human woman, you filthy Demon.]
[Argh!]
The Demon leaped backward, covering his eyes with both hands as if in agony.
[You, you…!]
Grinding his teeth, the Demon glared at me as though he wanted to tear me limb from limb.
[What on earth are you holding while summoning a Demon!]
[What do you think it is?]
The Angel Statue continued to speak.
[Piety.]
…That’s not it, though.
I almost refuted the Angel Statue’s words without thinking.
Just consider it. There was no way a person intending to call upon a Demon would possess an ounce of piety.
[Bullshit!]
The Demon pointed out the exact same fact.
[You sought me out precisely because you don’t have a single drop of piety!]
[Hmph! What nonsense? She brought me along and summoned you precisely because her piety is overflowing.]
Snorting openly at the Demon’s words, the Angel Statue floated higher into the air.
[She wished for me to smite you.]
[Are your ears blocked? Didn’t you hear her make a wish to me?]
A Demon bickering with an Angel Statue. Even though I was the one who had engineered this situation, I was left utterly speechless by the absurdity of it all.
The Angel Statue, which had been nothing more than a mere accessory, stretched out in all directions, rapidly taking on a human form.
[Humans are fragile and foolish. It is within the nature of their kind to make such blunders on occasion.]
[And it’s our job to take those bastards and drag them down to Hell.]
[No. Our purpose for existing is to grant them one more chance before that happens.]
The Angel’s shimmering long hair cascaded through the air like silver threads.
Beneath that dazzling light, blue eyes resembling a clear sky solemnly surveyed the surroundings.
[I am Sariel. The one who salvages humans straying onto the path of sin.]
Upon spotting Deyan, lines etched into his brow.
His distinctly masculine features hardened further, exuding an aura akin to a stern chief justice.
He waved his finger gracefully, as if conducting an orchestra.
At that moment, a sharp, tearing screech echoed through the room.
“Urgh!”
Without even a chance to react, Deyan was thrown across the room and slammed into the wall.
Massive spikes were driven through both of his shoulders.
Faced with this unexpected turn of events, I could only gape like an idiot.
“What in the world…”
[We shall speak later, Idir. For now, first…]
The Angel stood face-to-face with the Demon.
He flipped open the book he held tucked under his arm and drew a massive greatsword from between its pages.
[I must dispose of this garbage first.]
At the biting insult, the Demon thrust his middle finger straight into the air.
[You’re talking absolute crap, you piece of garbage. Angels really don’t have a single likeable quality about them.]
A torrent of destructive expletives, the likes of which I had never heard in my life, poured out without a single hitch.
They said Angels and Demons were polar opposites, but I never imagined their rivalry would take such a vulgar form.
[This is your final warning, pigeon. Scram. Unless you want to drop dead.]
The Demon spat out the words, cracking his knuckles with a sickening pop.
[Do it if you can. Have you Demons ever actually beaten our Heavenly Army?]
[Hey, you…! That’s only because you bastards unfairly gang up on us in massive crowds!]
[I am more than enough for the likes of you on my own.]
[Fine, yeah. Let’s give it a go. When you drop dead, go ahead and whine to your precious father all you want.]
Spitting out the murderous declaration, the Demon vanished in a flash.
Simultaneously, the Angel raised his sword high above his head.
Crash—!
In an instant, the Demon descended upon the Angel from above, shattering the massive greatsword as easily as if it were candy.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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