Volume 10 Chapter 17 Fear Love
"――――――――!?"
Dantalion and many of the Hounds were caught in the blast. They were blown away by the shockwave, their bodies torn apart by the stone fragments, and their skin burned by the heat, leaving them charred and collapsed.
That was, roughly, ten seconds. The time spent in agony felt like an eternity, and Dantalion's body was half-carbonized and lying on the ground.
The labyrinth had collapsed, with walls and ceilings crumbling. Some parts had broken through the ceiling and reached the ground, even piercing the sky with its light.
"Wh...y...? My own... body... didn't even... spare..."
Dantalion struggled to lift his face.
There, the girls who were bound earlier were standing, burned and shattered by the explosion, with icy fragments visible inside them.
"―――――."
"I'm sorry, Dantalion-san... You're really strong, so I took advantage of some misunderstandings and received some benefits."
The white girl said, or rather, the ice doll in the shape of a girl said, mimicking its master.
"One of them is the misunderstanding that the Ice Soldiers are a direct combat force. They are indeed strong, but their true value lies in being able to move even when broken into pieces."
The ice doll in the shape of a girl bent its wrist and offered its hand. The hand moved freely.
"The Ice Soldiers scattered throughout the labyrinth were defeated by the Hounds, and then used their hands to carve the 'explosion' rune everywhere."
"...So, in this battle, your Ice Soldiers were actually engineers, right...?"
Indeed, the white girl had directly confronted them, while the Ice Soldiers were scattered throughout the labyrinth as decoys. But that was wrong. Those decoys were the main force, assuming defeat from the start.
Rather, the decoy was―――
"Yes. And next, the misunderstanding that I couldn't create an ice doll that looks exactly like someone, like this, because I only show my bird and soldier forms normally..."
The ice doll in the shape of a girl smiled gently.
"If I, as the main body, were to appear in the labyrinth, I thought that Dantalion-san, who had misunderstood my strategy, would surely take advantage of the weakness on the surface of my strategy and appear... I thought so..."
"Yes, yes... I was completely deceived..."
That means these ice soldiers have the ability to self-replicate. They're terrifyingly versatile demons.
But Dantalion thinks.
It's sweet, and...
"Then, you'll be bound here."
The ice soldiers appear in multiple numbers, surrounding Dantalion. And Dantalion says,
"―――It's fine... It's not over yet...!"
With a body that's almost turned to charcoal, Dantalion looks up. Then, the barely alive Hounds nearby tear off the clothes on their abdomen.
And then, the massive mouth inside Dantalion's abdomen is exposed. Dantalion opens the mouth on his abdomen wide.
"Hounds, my beloved children..."
Dantalion's consciousness is on the verge of collapse, but he desperately weaves words together.
"Will you live with me...?"
Upon hearing that call.
All the Hounds use their last bit of strength to stand up.
'*△〇■×〇■×*〇■×△〇■×!'
'△〇■×*△〇■×〇■■××*〇!'
'■×〇■×*△〇*×■×*△〇■*〇'
With intense ferocity, the Hounds throw themselves into Dantalion's massive mouth. Dantalion's abdomen devours them with intense ferocity, chews, and swallows them whole while still alive.
"――――."
The white girl seems to understand the meaning. "Ice soldiers!" she hastily orders, telling them to finish Dantalion off.
On the other hand, Dantalion feels various emotions and memories flowing into his mind while "dancing and eating".
The painful and cold memories of living as a single Demon. And the warm memories of living as Hounds under Dantalion's care.
"People can't survive alone."
Dantalion, who had devoured everything, stood up while saying so. With the countless arms that grew out of his body, he received the blades of the approaching ice soldiers and mowed them down.
As such, Dantalion became a collective entity of demons exceeding hundreds of thousands. His body grew to be as large as a giant, with his head sticking out of the labyrinth's ceiling.
"Young ladies, I want to convey this sense of security to you as well. The warm feeling of many people becoming one, no matter what happens, the realization that you're not alone."
With just a slight movement, the surrounding labyrinth crumbled, and the ceiling expanded in a collapse. The massive collective entity of demons, Dantalion, was illuminated by light.
"Together, let's become one. Not just you young ladies, but all of Slum, all of this city, and even Demon King-sama, no, all of Nilfheim!"
The white-haired girl looked up at Dantalion with an expression mixed with shock and fear.
But that soon changed. If they become one, they'll quickly understand this warmth.
Thinking that, the girl's expression changed.
Hehe, it was as if she was enjoying a puppet dancing on the palm of her hand.
"I thought that when I heard the story of the dance and eat, it might come to this. I slightly thought so."
So, the girl pointed upwards. The light piercing Dantalion was blocked by the shadow of something.
It was like a dragon's silhouette.
A dragon with many long necks. What is this, Dantalion thought. He focused his eyes and finally understood its form.
It was a girl flying in the sky, surrounded by the phantom of a dragon with multiple necks. Or perhaps the girl was the core of the dragon's phantom.
"Uwah, disgusting. Ice-chan, Nice one. I'm strong against this kind of thing."
The girl flying as a dragon stretched out her hand towards Dantalion. In her palm, a magic circle-like array was spat out from the dragon's mouth.
"Hydra, let's go. ――――Dragon Breath!"
The 9 dragon heads blew their breath towards the formation at once. At the same time, they drew a single, venomous line that pierced Dantalion's chest.
"Huh...?"
Just one hit. Dantalion's body, which should have been impossible to kill with just one blow, was now...
"Coughhh!"
But that one hit was delayed, corroding Dantalion's body. Dantalion fell to his knees, spewing out a large amount of blood.
Every part of his body, all the demons he had consumed, were screaming in agony. As Dantalion vomited blood, he was drenched in cold sweat, his trembling body refusing to listen.
Poison. Dantalion suspected. A terrible, unprecedented poison was corroding the entire body.
"...Ah, so that's it... Dancing and eating means that if you kill once, that's the end of it, right? You won't revive..."
The ice maiden doll approached Dantalion.
Dantalion could no longer do anything. He was writhing in agony, vomiting blood, and trembling before the inevitable death.
"So... in the end, just one thing... You said something about love and happiness, didn't you?"
The ice maiden doll whispered in Dantalion's ear.
"―――I think your great love is neither warm nor happy, don't you?"
Dantalion's face jerked up. And he saw.
The deep, loving gaze that dwelled even in the ice doll's eyes. A gaze that was cloudy, yet shone with a vivid, intense light, overflowing with mad love.
"...Ah, I was mistaken, wasn't I?"
Dantalion realized.
"I thought you were a loveless person who could easily trample on people, but I was wrong."
The pain was fading away. The demons inside Dantalion's body were dying one by one, leaving them.
"You did that because of love, didn't you? For the sake of just one person you truly loved, you overcame your agony and committed a cruel act."
As Dantalion said that, the girl smiled sweetly. Dantalion, feeling his entire body trembling with the pain of poison and the terror of understanding, spoke.
"You're a scary person. People like you who hold such love are the most frightening. Because people like you would do anything. For love, for proof of love, they would even sacrifice their lives and the world."
Then, Dantalion had no regrets. No matter how much Dantalion tried to bring universal love to hell, he would be crushed by this girl's love.
What was the meaning of such futility? Knowing that there existed an unbeatable enemy was not despair, but what was it?
"Ah, ah... God, please...!"
In the end, Dantalion trembled as he prayed.
"―――Have mercy on me..."
A strong light flashed, burning Dantalion. Everyone covered their eyes from its intense brightness.
And when they looked again, only a lump of salt in the shape of Dantalion remained.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)