Chapter 37

Chapter 37 – You, to You

“What’s going on?”

Erin stepped directly between Ten and the soldier, her gaze moving swiftly as she took in the situation. She could not even begin to understand why the large-built soldier and the others were carrying wild boars on their shoulders in the first place.

“…I distinctly remember telling you to move in groups,” she said coolly. “And yet you wandered off on your own to go hunting.”

She caught sight of Ten hurriedly concealing his sword and shifted her attention back to the soldier. She examined him carefully, checking whether a monster might have attacked and taken his form, but she sensed nothing unusual from him at all.

Even so, the root of the problem was clear. This entire situation had arisen because they had acted independently. Irritation flared sharply in her chest.

“So now,” Erin continued, her tone edged with displeasure, “you’re being suspected of having been attacked by a monster because of that?”

“…I am sorry, Commander,” one of the soldiers said hurriedly. “But originally, Sir Bir was with us. After he disappeared, Sir Cher believed the three of us had been moving together the entire time.”

Once she fully grasped what had happened, Erin let out a short, humorless laugh as irritation surged up again.

“I am quite certain,” she said, enunciating each word, “that I explicitly forbade individual action. Ten. Care to explain how this happened?”

“…I believed it would be fine,” Ten replied stiffly, “since they only went through areas where patrol had already been completed.”

If it had been Neo, Erin might not have been surprised. But Ten was someone who obeyed her orders without question. Even Neo stared at him with widened eyes, clearly shocked that Ten had allowed this under his own judgment.

Erin surveyed their surroundings. Something felt deeply wrong. Even if this place had once been claimed by high-ranking monsters like succubi, it still made no sense.

If the area had truly been steeped in such heavy cursed energy, then lower-grade monsters should have been able to approach from this distance. Yet not a single monster had appeared. At this hour, when monsters normally began to stir, the absence was unnatural.

She clicked her tongue softly and looked around again. The silence was so deep it felt as though even their breathing was being swallowed whole.

Too many things don’t add up… Erin reached into her pocket and took out a purification stone. It shone brightly, indicating it was functioning properly.

It was working, and yet something felt off, as if invisible screws were slowly loosening one by one.

Even Ten, who possessed the highest level of holy power among the First Order besides herself, had failed to notice that something was subtly manipulating them.

If I send them back to the village like this, there’s no telling what could happen.

The only option was to attempt purification on the spot.

But Erin had no holy power and therefore could not perform purification. Neo, like her, possessed a peculiar constitution in which his magical power exceeded his holy power. As for Gabriel, his very existence was that of a demon god. Expecting purification from him was absurd.

It was an exceedingly difficult situation.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Contrary to her expectations, Gabriel approached Ten’s group with measured steps. Erin started to stop him, but an unexpected sight left her frozen in place.

A soft white light flowed from his hand and enveloped the soldiers.

A demon god, using purification?

She could hardly believe her eyes. Unless this place itself was some elaborate illusion conjured to deceive her, there was no other explanation.

A demon god was using holy power.

Erin looked down at her own hands. She was the Commander of the Holy Knights, and yet she could not use even a trace of holy power.

So how, and why, was a demon god doing so?

She almost preferred to believe he was casting a curse instead. But Gabriel truly had purified them. There was no lingering trace of corruption left on the soldiers.

There was nothing wrong.

She had tried so hard not to accept his help, and yet here she was, having received it so effortlessly. A wave of hollow self-reproach washed over her, leaving her unable to think.

If only I could cut your throat right here.

Would you die? Would you let yourself be killed? Or would you sneer and say something like this could never kill you?

She remembered his smile as he said, This is how you kill me, and how he mocked her even then for failing to do so. She remembered how he looked wounded when she told him not to cross the line, and how he continued to approach her regardless.

Why? Why did he keep doing this to her?

She wanted to pretend nothing was wrong, but the emotions swelling up inside her made it impossible to remain composed.

“I want you to be more miserable than anyone else. I want you to collapse, for everyone around you to disappear. I want it to be so that I’m the only one left by your side. So that even if you want to run away, I’m the only one you can rely on.”

Ah.

 So that was what he wanted.

To leave nothing around her. To show her that struggling was meaningless.

The moment she realized that, Erin almost laughed. Almost. But she stopped herself. This was not the situation for that.

She released a quiet breath and tried to shake off her emotions, or at least to appear as though she had.

“Nothing happened, which is fortunate,” she said evenly. “But you will still be punished for acting independently.”

She brushed her bangs back as if unaffected, though her fingers trembled faintly.

“Tonight, you will stand guard outside the barrier.”

“Commander…”

One of the soldiers started to protest, then immediately fell silent.

If Gabriel had not purified them, they would have been executed on the spot. Compared to that, this punishment was lenient.

“…Thank you very much!”

“Descend the mountain,” Erin ordered. “Neo, you go as well.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Neo saluted and quickly led the others away. Once they were gone, Erin and Gabriel were left alone. She gazed down toward the base of the mountain and asked quietly, “How can a demon god use purification?”

“Holy power is merely borrowing the power of a god,” Gabriel replied calmly. “And I am, in a way, a god myself. Isn’t it only natural that I can use it?”

“How can you say something so shamelessly?”

She could not help but laugh in disbelief. Because of the slope, Erin stood slightly higher, and once again Gabriel was looking up at her.

“…Whether I speak lies or truth,” he said softly, “you would not believe me either way, would you, little one?”

“At least you know that much.”

Erin had been watching the still-burning arena when, for the first time, she truly listened to his words.

“There was someone I cherished above all else,” Gabriel said. “That person truly hated this place. There was a time when I tried to destroy it.”

“Even demon gods have their romances, I see.”

“It was so long ago I barely remember,” he said quietly.

Yet the way he looked at the arena was filled with memory, with longing so deep it bordered on affection.

“But that place was also one of their traces,” he continued. “So I could not bring myself to touch it.”

“What kind of person were they?” Erin asked.

Gabriel slowly turned his head toward her. His smile was bittersweet, filled with an aching tenderness.

“…A savior who ruined my life.”

With that, he extended his hand toward her.

“Shouldn’t we head back as well?”

Erin only stared at his hand. She did not take it.

Something felt wrong, unsettling. A cherished existence that ruined his life yet saved him. Why tell her this at all?

Questions bloomed endlessly, but Erin did not speak. She knew that the moment she asked even one of them, she would be the first to cross the line she herself had drawn.

As she pressed her lower lip between her teeth, Gabriel reached out and gently brushed it with his thumb.

“I did something unnecessary again.”

Erin merely stared at him.

“Could you be angry with me, like before?”

His voice trembled with unshed tears. Why did he keep doing this to her?

You said you had someone precious.

So why?

Why did you keep trying to cross the line?

Gabriel rested his forehead lightly against her shoulder. His soft, silvery hair brushed against her neck, tickling her skin.

“You can curse me,” he whispered. “You can hate me. You can strangle me, even try to kill me.” He pleaded with her. “Just please, don’t treat me like this.”

Erin gently pushed him away.  Irritation surged through her. He looked hurt again. She was sick of that expression.

She wished he would disappear from her sight forever.

Slowly, Erin reached out and wrapped her hand around his neck. Beneath her fingers, she felt his steady pulse.

She lingered there for a moment, then spoke quietly.

“The only one who should be able to kill you is me.”

At her words, Gabriel’s cheeks flushed faintly. His smile was bright, genuinely happy.

“Of course. There is no one else who could kill me.”

He took her hand from his neck and pressed it to his cheek, rubbing against it affectionately.

“Little one. There is no one but you.”

It was the first time.

The first time that hearing that endearment did not disgust her.

As she looked at him, something prickled sharply at the edge of her senses. Erin twisted her body instantly, forming a spear in her hand and hurling it toward the source.

It was only for a fleeting moment, but the gaze that brushed over her made her entire body break out in goosebumps.

Yes. This was the gaze of a predator, fixed squarely on its prey.