Mephistopheles’s physical ability was inferior to Johan’s.
It was inevitable. After all, her base form was that of a young beastkin.
Still, even as a child, a beastkin was still a beastkin. Their astounding physical strength already rivaled that of an adult man.
Unfortunately, Johan at the time lacked self-awareness.
He’d overlooked the fact that he had already become someone who could easily bring most adults to their knees.
Among young beastkin, Mephistopheles currently stood out as the best in terms of physical ability.
Of course, that didn’t mean she was strong enough to be categorized as a true powerhouse…
“Kihehee!”
But Mephistopheles’s strength wasn’t in her physical ability.
What one should truly fear…. was something else.
It was the fact that she had now gained a deeper foothold in this world.
“So you’re the so-called vampire I’ve heard about?”
Mephistopheles descended like a glider, landing in a way that blocked the alley entrance, and asked.
A scrawny man… Worm Gear Strigan frowned at the sight of the suddenly appearing child.
“How unfortunate.”
But soon, he sighed.
A pitiful little brat who didn’t even seem remotely threatening.
To think he’d have to kill such a child. He shook his head.
Today’s quota was already met. Now that the supply of blood that served as lubricant for the Worm Gear had been fulfilled, there was no reason to kill any further.
It wasn’t that he disliked killing. He just found it troublesome.
And now, a witness had appeared.
A dumb-looking child, no less.
He had no choice but to kill her.
Truly unfortunate.
“At the very least, I’ll make it painless.”
Strigan immediately aimed his gun at Mephistopheles.
Pfft!
Not even the sound of a gunshot echoed.
The weapon Strigan had crafted was lethal but silent.
A quiet death.
That was Strigan’s aesthetic.
The moment he pulled the trigger, a single beam of light shot straight through the girl’s forehead.
A red glow pierced Mephistopheles’ right between the brows and began to unravel slowly.
Bullets made of blood were meant to silently snatch away life.
Or so he thought.
“Kihehe! You’re a rude one. Not even a proper greeting?”
“.…..!”
The child charged at him as if nothing had happened, slashing her sharp claws in his direction.
It was unexpected, but Strigan didn’t panic.
So she’s a beastkin… a remnant of those savages? That explains everything.
Why he hadn’t sensed her approaching from behind.
Why she’d been able to dodge his bullet.
All of it made perfect sense now.
Right now, the imperial army had occupied this city. For a child to remain hidden in such conditions, her stealth skills had to be exceptional.
Combine that with beastkin-level physical ability, and it wasn’t so strange that she could evade his shot.
His weapon, after all, sacrificed power for silence. It was weaker than a traditional firearm.
Strigan calmly dodged Mephistopheles’s attack, calculating his next move with cold precision.
“Tch… Looks like I’m helping the Empire after all.”
Thump!
Strigan activated the Worm Gear.
A dull pulsing sound like a heart beating echoed softly in the silence.
Splash!
The blood he had collected scattered in every direction.
From the tiny ring-shaped gears, the blood poured out and began to swirl around him.
“Hmm.”
Strigan first sealed off the surroundings.
Using the red liquid, he blocked off every gap in the alley with a crimson barrier.
Then, spreading his wings, he lifted into the air.
“This is going to cost me.”
Whoooooooooosh!!
A downpour of red rain.
Each drop carried the same deadly power as the bullet he had fired earlier.
With overwhelming force completely surrounding the area, the child should be obliterated without a trace.
However, there was one thing Strigan had overlooked…
“Cheap tricks.”
The child he had dismissed as merely a savage remnant…
Was, in truth, a monster without a true physical form.
No matter how many of the red rain bullets pierced her body, Mephistopheles merely wavered like fog without substance.
She remained unscathed, smiling slyly as her form shimmered within the storm.
“Know this….the one standing before you is a Great Demon.”
Mephistopheles spread her wings.
Compared to Strigan’s vast blood-colored wings, hers were small and almost laughably dainty.
Whooom—
As she slowly lifted into the air, Strigan beat his wings once and widened the distance.
Of course, in the narrow alleyway he had sealed off himself, there was no real room to escape.
“Hiya!”
Still, Mephistopheles’s physical abilities were inferior.
Strigan simply frowned as she charged at him again and again. Her movements so weak and predictable.
He didn’t know how she had neutralized his attack.
He couldn’t even begin to form a strategy against her.
Should I retreat?
The thought crossed his mind, but leaving an assassin with no clear presence behind him was too risky.
More than that, her unimpressive strength and sloppy fighting style made him hesitate.
And that moment of hesitation…
That single lapse of judgment changed everything.
“Die.”
The child swung her arm toward his heart.
It wasn’t just claws. Her entire arm had mutated into a grotesque limb, disproportionate to her body.
Even so, her physical strength remained the same.
With just a single flap of his wings, Strigan could easily increase the distance.
Just a slight twist of his body would be enough to dodge the attack.
However—
Crack!
The deciding blow in any battle often comes in a single instant.
Strigan didn’t know.
He underestimated her.
He had grown complacent and thus failed to recognize the true power Mephistopheles possessed.
Physical strength? Inferior.
Combat skill? Like a child throwing a tantrum.
But beyond all of that…
She possessed an overwhelming, absolute authority that rendered everything else irrelevant.
“…What—?”
Time stop.
Being the wielder of that power herself, Mephistopheles was less restricted by its limitations and could time its use with ease.
Even if the effect lasted only a single second, it was more than enough to be fatal.
Like a scene cut and pasted out of sequence, all process was skipped. Only the result remained.
Strigan’s eyes widened in horror at the absurd, disjointed outcome.
He lost.
And it wasn’t just a defeat.
He was dead.
His heart hadn’t merely been pierced. It had been torn out entirely.
No… not yet…
Even then, Strigan was still thinking of escape.
His gear….his Worm Gear was a power symbolizing circulation.
It should be possible to replace the heart.
But Mephistopheles knew that too.
“…….!”
With her grotesquely transformed arm, Mephistopheles clenched his hand tightly.
Preventing him from activating the gear—
She was cutting off his ability at the source.
She had heard many things at Johan’s side.
And so, there was an inevitable information gap.
A battle without physical strength or instinct.
Instead, an overwhelming advantage born from the power to stop time, and knowledge.
“Kihee.”
Mephistopheles laughed.
Her red eyes reflected Strigan’s terror-stricken face.
That wicked smile. She was savoring the fear.
Strigan realized, looking into the face of the grinning little girl—
“A… d-demon…”
That his opponent was something transcendent.
***
When I went to bed with that warm ticklish feeling in my chest, everything felt soft and peaceful.
Despite the freezing winter air, the blanket was surprisingly warm and so was my heart.
But the moment I woke up the next morning, feeling refreshed—
“What the…”
Hell had unfolded before my eyes.
Now, think about it.
How would you react if you woke up one day…
And saw the horribly twisted corpse of someone staring back at you?
I blinked, speechless, at the sight of the emaciated corpse hanging on the wall like some kind of decoration.
“What… no, seriously, what is this?”
What was I even supposed to say?
How was I supposed to accept this?
I had no idea. How does anyone process something like this? Countless thoughts just shot through my mind.
Did I do this? Did I kill him?
But who is he? And if I did kill him, why don’t I remember it?
Why is the body in that condition? Why does it look so terrified?
Wait, really? Did I really do this? In my sleep? Sleepwalking? Or maybe the remnants of the Demon King inside me?
I was confused. Was this how Gregor Samsa felt when he woke up one morning to find he’d turned into an insect?
“Hmm? You’re awake?”
“…….”
It was then that I noticed the girl sitting like a doll on a chair next to the corpse hanging on the wall.
To be precise, I noticed because she, Mephistopheles, spoke to me while I sat there stunned.
Mephistopheles was licking her own hand, like a puppy grooming itself.
“Explain.”
I asked Mephistopheles, the only being who could possibly explain this absurd situation.
“I caught him last night.”
“Why…?”
“To prove my strength!”
Mephistopheles puffed up proudly.
A moment ago, I’d been horrified….no, practically petrified by the grotesque scene in front of me, but her expression made irritation flare up before anything else.
How can someone act so punchable?
“Do you know who this guy is?”
Well, one thing was clear: Mephistopheles was stronger than I’d thought.
I didn’t know what method she used, but somehow she managed to take down a Worm Gear with those pathetic specs of hers.
But that didn’t matter.
“I see. Now I get it.”
I got out of bed and quietly began rummaging through my bag.
“A reward? Give me candy. I was just feeling a bit peckish.”
Mephistopheles demanded a reward as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
That look on her face….that smug expression that had been bothering me from the start really got on my nerves.
Smack!
“Kyaaaah!”
So I hit her.
I even bothered to dig Helena’s rod out of my bag just to do it.
“Wh-Why are you hitting me?!”
“Why the hell did you go and mess everything up with your useless antics?!”
Mephistopheles teared up.
Her reaction stirred a tiny bit of guilt, but I wasn’t falling for it.
This little brat had really done something unnecessary.
No, actually, she’d made things worse.
Why did I even come here in the first place? To encourage Lobelia.
I’d even prepared a juicy target for her, an executive of Ex Machina, and led him right into her path.
The plan was to give Lobelia a chance to shine while also getting rid of a troublesome enemy.
Worm Gear? He was never that big of a deal.
Now that I had the information, even I could have taken him down.
But Mephistopheles snatched him away before that.
Now Lobelia who was all set to go vampire hunting ended up like a dog that chased a chicken only to lose it.
The plan was ruined.
And not just a little….completely.
“You little brat! You useless brat!”
“Kyaaaah! I-I’m a mighty great demon! Stop the spanking at once!”
Great demon?
And what can a great demon even do?
She’s all bark. One hit with a divine rod and she’s completely powerless!
“F-Fine, I was wrong!”
“That’s more like it!”
In the end, I got an apology out of the so-called great demon Mephistopheles.
All that fuss over nothing.
Why does she always have to make things more complicated?
“Sniff… I only did it for your own good. You’re so cruel…”
“……”
…Still, I guess appearances really do matter, huh?
Looking at her like that, I did feel a little bad.
I’ll probably have to give her a piece of candy later or something…
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