Chapter 53 - Choice and Resolve

The noisy basement fell quiet. In place of screams and cries, only intermittent panting could be heard. Gaf wiped away his sweat as he caught his breath.

"Bastard fought me to the very end. Made me waste all that effort for nothing."

He looked down at the young man sprawled at his feet, foaming at the mouth. The man's limbs still convulsed now and then, and his eyes had lost all focus.

The imp shouted, "All the better! I thoroughly enjoyed myself thanks to him!"

The imp was a little larger than before. His arms and legs had grown much longer, too. The human's screams and cries had made him grow.

Gaf's gaze shifted to the imp, murderous intent beginning to fill his eyes.

"Shut your filthy mouth. I didn't do this for your pleasure."

He loathed Demons more than anyone. He still remembered the Demon that had taken the lives of his wife and comrades.

"How dare you speak to the End's right hand—"

Before the imp could finish, Gaf lunged forward and drove a kick into him.

THWACK!

The little furball went flying into a stack of books, sending up a cloud of dust. Gaf strode toward him.

Yohan clicked his tongue. "Stop wasting your strength on nonsense and finish putting that collar on him."

Gaf stopped short. He glared at the imp, then let out a long sigh.

"Do we really have to do this?"

Yohan frowned. "I already told you. We need the collar to get that vermin inside the rift."

Anyone other than Yohan had to wear the collar to enter the rift.

Gaf shook his head. "That's not what I'm asking. Do you really have to get your Demon body back?"

Yohan had a choice now: continue living as a human, or return to being a half-demon. He could choose either.

Which was the right decision? He had thought it over countless times, but there was no clear answer. Chronicle of Humans and Demons dealt a cruel ending to humans and Demons alike. Whatever he lived as, his final destination was ruin.

To survive, he would have to rewrite the ending itself. In devising a new ending, he had to choose whichever would give him the greater advantage: human or half-demon.

Yohan spoke. "I need White Horn. I can't give him up."

He had already made his decision: to live as a half-demon. He did not know whether it was the right answer. He could only trust his own judgment.

Gaf's voice dropped low. "I'd like to hear your reasons."

"I have no way to explain them, and I doubt I could convince you."

"... Is that so."

Gaf began fastening the collar around the young man's neck. He looked composed, yet somehow bitter.

Ilea, who had been watching, spoke up. "Father, Yohan is always striving for the best outcome. I'm sure this choice is part of that."

Gaf said nothing.

Raguel ventured cautiously, "I-I don't really understand, but Yohan isn't an ordinary Demon... Surely he has circumstances he can't talk about, or reasons that are hard to explain. Th-that's what I think."

Gaf let out a quiet sigh. "Must be nice having so many people to speak for you. You've certainly bewitched them."

Yohan shrugged. "I suppose I have a talent for it. As a Demon."

"Yes, who could be better suited to being a Demon than you? All that's left is to get your true body back."

The collar was now fastened around the young man's neck. All preparations for the living sacrifice were complete. Now Yohan only had to enter the rift and activate the Unhallowed Array.

He put on the gold-rimmed monocle from before, and the hidden rift came into view.

Yohan looked at Gaf. "Stop being so prickly. Do you think I'm choosing to live as a half-demon because I enjoy it? As Raguel said, there are things I can't tell you."

"Oh, I'm sure."

"The day will come when you understand. I'll be back."

Gripping the young man's collar, Yohan reached toward the rift. In an instant, he vanished.

* * *

『 First, do not open your eyes. 』

『 Second, do not remove the monocle. 』

『 Third, ask no questions of any kind. 』

The rules were driven into Yohan's mind.

'Still feels like shit.'

The words of compulsion burrowing into his mind forced him to obey, like a form of brainwashing. The oppressive sensation was so unpleasant it made him shudder. Having no choice but to submit left him feeling powerless.

The next time they met, he would never tolerate this shit.

"A pleasure to see you. It's been a week. Have you been well?"

The moment he heard Garnish's voice, Yohan was seized by the urge to unleash a torrent of questions. There was so much he wanted to know, but the rules kept him from asking anything. He would have to use his head.

Yohan spoke. "Don't ask. You've been watching it all anyway."

Last time, Garnish had spoken as though he had been watching Yohan's daily life. If that was true, it was deeply unsettling. He had to make certain.

A snigger reached his ears.

"Fishing for information, are we? Very well. I'll play along just this once. I can only watch you when the rift is open, as it is now."

The rift was normally closed. At present, it had been temporarily opened by the Third Prince, Gawain.

Yohan said, "So you've been spying on me this past week."

"Spying? I merely take an interest. You're quite diligent, I see. Keeping up your training and all."

"If you're that interested, you must even know what questions I have."

"As I said, I was only playing along that once. Don't try to reach the unknown through loopholes. Discovering things for yourself is part of the fun."

Fun, his ass. Yohan was going mad with frustration.

"These cryptic answers are starting to piss me off. I'll just finish what I came to do and leave. Activate the Unhallowed Array."

Garnish had previously promised to draw the Unhallowed Array himself.

"... Hmm, wait a moment. Since you've come all this way, I'll give you one small piece of information. As you surmised, this is indeed the deepest part of the Abyss. Come down here someday, once you are worthy. Then I shall answer your questions."

Just as Yohan and Ilea had suspected, the rift connected to the farthest reaches of the Abyss.

The deepest part of the Abyss, also known as the Depths of the Abyss. It was the grave of all Demons, a bottomless pit that devoured all reason and common sense. Even the Holy Heroes of old had been unable to come and go freely.

To meet Garnish, he would need power and stature on a par with theirs. As a human, the strength to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Holy Heroes of old. As a Demon, the stature of a true Apostle.

Only after attaining both could Yohan visit the Depths. That sounded like a very distant future.

Yohan let out a humorless laugh. "Easy enough to say."

"Oh dear. I meant to help, but it seems I've only burdened you. Offering encouragement like 'I'm sure you'll manage splendidly!'... wouldn't mean much, would it?"

Of course it would be no help whatsoever.

"Enough nonsense. Just activate the Unhallowed Array. This is a waste of time."

"Very well. I'll have it done in a flash."

At that moment, a horrific cry erupted from somewhere.

"Huaaaargh! Hiiik! Aaargh!"

There was no discernible meaning to the scream, only primal terror.

Garnish sniggered. "It seems the sacrifice has awakened. We'd best begin the ritual. If he goes completely mad, his value as a sacrifice will drop."

The screams came from the young man Yohan had brought. A mere mortal was face-to-face with the Apostle Garnish, in the very Depths of the Abyss. Losing his reason was inevitable.

"Uaaaaagh! Hieeeeeek! Ugh!"

There was a furious scratching sound, mixed with dull thuds as though someone were banging his head against the floor. Though Yohan's eyes were closed, the sounds alone told him what was happening to the young man. It could hardly be a pleasant sight.

『 The human body shall crawl into darkness, mount the altar of its own accord, and become black fuel. 』

The ritual began. As the brainwashing incantation rang out, every sound from the young man ceased at once.

『 Its name shall sink into oblivion, its existence dissolve into the turbid torrent, until at last it is wrought into a shell of baleful essence. 』

Immediately, a ghostly wail echoed out. Every manner of malice began howling in monstrous voices. The young man's cries were unmistakably part of that horrific frenzy.

Yohan wanted to cover his ears, but forced himself to endure. He could not show weakness. He waited for the ritual to end with a composed expression.

Fortunately, the uproar did not last as long as he had expected.

"It is done."

Silence had fallen before he knew it.

"Now I can leave."

"Before that, one thing you should bear in mind. For roughly ten days, you will be a Demon both day and night. Think of it as balancing the scales of equivalence. You've been entirely human lately, so you must spend an equal amount of time as a Demon."

The time he spent living as a human and as a Demon had to balance. This was the first he had heard of it. There might be a way to make use of that.

"I understand."

"Excellent. In the hope that we meet again someday, I shall send you out now."

"Before I leave, I have a warning for you as well."

A snigger rang out.

"Oh? A warning? Let's hear it, then."

Yohan slowly raised his eyelids.

『 First, do not open your eyes. 』

The words of compulsion slammed into his mind, but Yohan paid them no heed.

『 Donotopenyoureyesdonotopenyoureyesdonotopenyoureyesdonotopenyoureyesdonotopenyoureyes 』

He had shed his frail human body. The moment Garnish's ritual ended, Yohan had become a Demon. He could feel it instinctively.

Dense demonic energy circulated through his entire body, and power seethed within him. Countless powers filled his vision with red text. With a little exaggeration, what Yohan felt was close to omnipotence. At the very least, he could easily ignore the words of compulsion.

Yohan's eyes opened fully. Eyes redder than blood gleamed in the Depths of the Abyss.

A gigantic eye faced him. He could see nothing but a pupil the size of a house, so black that its depth was impossible to gauge. The gaze of an Archdemon who had existed for a thousand years bore down on Yohan's flesh and soul.

The dreadful pressure assailed him once more, but Yohan did not close his eyes. He could not avert his gaze. If he had chosen to live as an Apostle, he had to act like one. This was an expression of his resolve.

Yohan spread his enormous wings to either side. A chilling voice flowed from his mouth along with pitch-black demonic energy.

"Never use words of compulsion on me again."

His words began transforming into the ancient demonic tongue.

『 Garnish, Second Apostle of the End, shall not dare use words of compulsion upon me (Shathûn’tol Nar’eth, Ganis vel – zhar’tak ni’vorel kha’reth. Dom’ar shelk). 』

He was inscribing words of compulsion upon Garnish. Demonic energy drained from Yohan's entire body in great masses.

Garnish murmured in a voice laced with something sinister, "... Interesting. You are very interesting indeed. I shall remember your warning."

At that instant, Yohan's vision went black.