Volume 12 Chapter 24 Klainatzirks
Ice and the others were protecting Kyrie and trying to escape from Rollo.
"...This is bad. Our information advantage has been completely taken away."
It was Ice who muttered those words.
The 4 of them had escaped from the chaotic circus, entered the slum, and were now heading towards the Demon King's castle.
Right now, they were in the midst of a dilapidated ruin, surrounded by rubble that had barely held up. The 4 of them, including Kyrie, were taking a break.
Ice was clenching her teeth because of Rollo's cunning ways.
Rollo was an expert at manipulating information, never revealing her true intentions. She would weave illusions, mix truth with lies, and suddenly appear and disappear, causing chaos.
"Ow, my eyes..."
Sandra was covering her eyes with her hands.
Sandra's Ajna Chakra allowed her to see through Rollo's illusions, but each time she did, Rollo would destroy her Chakra, leaving her eyes bloody.
"Aaah, Sandra, are you okay? Open your eyes, I'll put some ointment on them."
"Eye drops are scary... Ahhh!"
"You're afraid of the eye drops but not of having your eyes destroyed? That's weird, right?"
"Injuries during battle are collateral damage."
"That's just what you want to say, isn't it? Okay, I'll show you. See, it's healed now."
Toxy was treating Sandra's eyes while teasing her. This usual banter between the two made Ice think that they were always so carefree.
However, Ice was underestimating Rollo. Rollo was indeed clever from the start, but Ice never thought she would become this powerful once she became an enemy.
"Is it around here~?"
Rollo was closing in. Ice summoned an ice soldier and quickly took her down. But at the same time, Rollo's figure vanished into thin air like mist.
Right after that, a voice was heard from behind Ice.
"I found you! Hehehe♡."
Ice turned around, but there was no one there. Ice gritted her teeth, thinking.
It was Toxy who was panicking.
"Ahh, Ice-chan, we've been found! Rollo is...! We have to escape quickly!"
Toxy stood up and said, followed by Sandra.
"My eyes are healed, so I can go. Which way should we go next?"
Ice thought for a moment, considering Rollo's previous words and illusions. Taking a deep breath, Ice said:
"No way...! She's not moving, and that's good. I think she's just bluffing. She's trying to lure us out with an illusion like the one she showed us before..."
If that's not the case, there's no point in saying "I found you" to the enemy.
Rollo is smart. Being smart means being able to make rational judgments, which also means we can predict Rollo's movements.
It was lucky they used the ice soldier. If they had used the Bird Strike, their location would have been exposed. But the ice soldier's attack made almost no sound.
That's why Rollo tried to deceive them with the "I found you" illusion. Since the illusion didn't work, she tried to deceive them with a fake voice. It was a 2-stage plan.
"...So, is that...? Then, is it safe here for now?"
Kyrie raised her voice. Ice nodded strongly, saying "Yeah...!"
For now, they could hide here. Wade must be dealing with Jormungand right about now. Since they couldn't handle Rollo on their own, they had to wait for Wade.
Kyrie's expression was stern, and she let out a long, deep breath. Then, she muttered, "Lillu... Gand..." and tears began to fall.
Up until now, they had been cornered, and in the process, they had lost 2 comrades.
For demons, parting ways was even more distant than it was for humans. That's why Kyrie was hurting so much.
"...What could she even say?"
Ice, on the other hand, had been lucky so far and hadn't experienced losing someone close. Although there had been dangerous scenes with party members, everyone was still alive and well.
That's why Ice doesn't have any comforting words for Kyrie, who has lost someone dear.
However, Kyrie seemed to sense Ice's consideration.
"...Humans are really kind, aren't they? If a demon were crying like this, they'd be too slow to move and would get caught and sold off."
Kyrie said this with a sad laugh. Ice and the others didn't know what to say, and they kept their mouths shut.
"Demons don't have blood ties, and they don't get married either... but, in the end, you find people you can think of as family after being together for a long time."
Kyrie curled up on the spot, sitting in a seiza position, and hid her face in her knees.
"Lillu and Gand were like family to me... and yet, I lost both of them..."
Kyrie's hands were shaking as she spoke. She was trying to hold back her tears as she said this.
"Ugh, Lillu, I wanted to help you so badly... It's hard to even hear those screams. But Gand said, 'No way, if we go to help, we'll just get caught too.'."
That's right. When Sandra arrived, she had already been eaten, and Fenrir showed up. We had no choice but to run.
"And then, we desperately ran away together, and next thing I knew, Gand was in that state too... Now, I'm all alone, just like that..."
Kyrie wiped away her overflowing tears, muttering to herself.
Ice couldn't bear it anymore and sat down beside Kyrie, saying, "So, about that..."
"What kind of people were they, anyway?"
Maybe talking about it would help ease the pain a little. Even if it's about people we've lost.
Ice changed the subject, and Kyrie, still silent, smiled slightly and began to talk.
"Lillu was super clingy, you know. She'd act all high and mighty in front of others, but as soon as she got into trouble, she'd cry 'Kyrie, help me!'. Ever since we saved her from the sl*ve traders, she was always like that..."
Lillu, the beast-girl. She was eaten by Renril, Fenrir's split personality.
"I thought of her as my cute little sister... I wanted to help her so badly. She was screaming in pain until the very end, and she believed that I could save her, right?"
After saying that, Kyrie wiped away her tears. Ice probably knew why she asked that question. There was no need to talk about it anymore, so she changed the subject.
"Gand, on the other hand, was really strong... Originally, Gand was part of a circus troupe, and her dad's business rival was our enemy..."
It was earlier that Kyrie met Chiero, the leader, and later got to know Gand as an enemy through their activities.
"Ugh, Gand's place is a real pain... No matter how many times we attack, they escape, and we get attacked back too. Back then, I really hated..."
However, on a certain snowy day, Gand showed up alone in front of Kyrie.
"Gand's boss was planning to sell out Gand and their underlings as sl*ves... So, Gand betrayed them and told us where they were hiding, and that was the end of it."
Thanks to that information, leader Chiero's Circus was able to take over the city's entertainment district.
So, Gand was warmly welcomed into the Circus. As the main actor in the previous conflict.
"On the surface, yeah... But still, a traitor is a traitor, after all."
A demon who has betrayed once will betray again. It's a saying that humans often hear, but it's the same for demons too.
No matter what the circumstances, Gand, who had betrayed their original organization, worked as a member of the Circus while keeping their distance. Even Gand themselves didn't try to get too close.
"I was curious, so I asked. Then they said, 'As a traitor, I fit in well with the Circus' corner.' I've never seen a demon say something like that before. So, I let them join..."
Friends. In other words, not as part of the huge Circus group, but as part of the smaller group, Klainatzirks' friends.
"That's how things turned out, so Gand is a really reliable person, you know... Kyrie thinks of him like an older brother or something. But as a leader, Kyrie respects him..."
Just then, tears start to well up in Kyrie's eyes again.
Ice, who was far away, heard the rumbling sound caused by Jormungand and asked, "What's going on?"
"Jormungand... that huge snake. I don't get it, it's not what I heard... what happened to it, and how did it end up like that?"
Kyrie looked at Ice with tears in his eyes. Then, after a while, Kyrie said...
"Gand resisted, you see."
"Resisted...?"
"Yeah..."
Kyrie said, looking down.
"Kyrie and Gand were desperately running away from Rollo and the others."
Now, Rollo has become a formidable opponent who can't be underestimated. Currently, the two of them are being pursued by Left General Sirina and Lillu.
But back then, Sur and Renril, who had defected from Rollo's camp, were exceptionally skilled in combat and capture. So when those 2 escaped first, Kyrie and Gand were somehow able to escape in the chaos.
"It was also thanks to the terrain, I suppose... But now, Rollo is really good at cornering people. Gand got caught by the snake person..."
The "snake person" refers to Mung. Mung, the top trainer in the slums. A skilled instructor who's been through a lot.
Come to think of it, Mung doesn't really have a reason to follow Rollo either. But somehow, Mung ended up working for Rollo and caught Gand.
"I've lost, lost everything, and yet I'm still alive... what's the point of that? So when Gand says 'run away!', I try to shake it off and help instead."
However, when Gand saw Kyrie trying to help, he took drastic measures.
"...the snake people who caught Gand started eating him first."
And then, a moment later, Mung also started eating Gand. What happened was an unprecedented cannibalistic frenzy.
"...so, did Jormungand become like that?"
"Probably... I think Jormungand, right? The giant monster from Norse mythology. The reason it didn't take on its usual form is because Gand put up one last resistance."
The dual-headed form, which wasn't in the legend, was born as a result of the cannibalism and is proof that a new Jormungand was born.
The gigantic Jormungand was struggling, with its 2 heads clashing and opposing each other.
That could be a breakthrough in their desperate situation. Thinking that, Ice rubbed the communication ring and tried to contact.
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