The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 37

At that moment.

The space above the summoning circle split open, and a dark blue vortex appeared in midair.

A portal had formed.

-Grrrrr…

A beast’s growl could be heard from beyond the portal. The growl, full of killing intent, caused the priests, who had been closing their eyes in prayer, to look up at the portal.

“The summoning circle… has it activated?” someone muttered.

The priests, witnessing this phenomenon for the first time, stopped their prayers and could only stare at the portal.

I began to feel increasingly anxious. The temporary portal was just a small hole in space that would close and disappear soon.

-Grrrrr!

Blackie, unaware of my anxiety, continued to growl threateningly at the portal.

“Blackie, come here.”

I whispered softly toward the portal. Fortunately, the priests were all too focused on the portal to hear my voice.

A confused yowling sound came from beyond the portal.

-Meow?

Blackie had recognized the name but seemed bewildered by the unfamiliar voice. I had no choice but to use divine speech.

[Blackie, it’s me.]

Upon recognizing the magic within my divine speech, I heard heavy footsteps from the other side of the portal.

Thump, thump, thump!

Finally, Blackie appeared through the portal.

As soon as Blackie saw me, it let out a cry.

Kkamang!

***

The room descended into chaos with Blackie’s appearance.

“The divine beast is… So, the lady is truly the saintess… Oh, heavenly god.”

The high priest, staring at me with a dazed expression, suddenly fainted, collapsing onto the floor.

I wondered if he was on his way to meet the celestial god right there.

I lightly stepped over the fallen high priest and opened my arms to Blackie.

Blackie burrowed into my embrace.

The priests, who had been watching, began to murmur.

“For the divine beast to embrace her like that… Lady Isabella must truly be the saintess.”

“Impossible! How could Lady Isabella—a troublemaker—be the saintess?!”

“Shh! You mustn’t call her a troublemaker anymore! She’s now the saintess!”

Some priests tried to help the fallen high priest, while others whispered about me.

In the midst of this commotion, the crown prince hurriedly led Blackie and me to another room. Once we entered, I used magic to set up a soundproof barrier, in case the priests tried to eavesdrop.

Kkamang! Kkamang!

As soon as the door closed, Blackie burrowed into my embrace again, crying. It seemed it had been quite frightened when I suddenly disappeared.

I patted Blackie’s back. The soft fur, which I hadn’t felt in a long time, was comforting.

Kkamang!

“Looks like you were really shocked when I disappeared so suddenly.”

Kkamang, Kkamang!

“…I didn’t disappear, I lost consciousness and collapsed? And haven’t woken up since?”

Hearing Blackie’s cries, I blinked.

It made perfect sense. Since only my soul was inside Isabella’s body, my original body must still be lying somewhere, unable to move.

A body without consciousness…

The thought briefly complicated my mind, but I quickly changed my perspective.

It was fortunate to know the whereabouts of my original body. If the one who trapped me in Isabella’s body had destroyed my defenseless body, that would have been disastrous.

“Lady Bella. Ha…”

The crown prince looked back and forth between Blackie and me, sighing deeply.

“So, is this Blackie?”

“That’s right. From now on, refer to it as the divine beast.”

Kkamang?

Blackie tilted its head cutely at my words.

“I should explain. Blackie, from now on, you’re the divine beast.”

Kkamang!

“You accept it quickly. As expected of my companion monster.”

“…How can Blackie possibly be a divine beast?”

The crown prince seemed dissatisfied and continued to nitpick.

“Blackie is the most impressive monster in the Demon Realm. It deserves to be a divine beast.”

“Lady Bella, that’s not the issue. No matter how you look at it, Blackie is not a divine beast.”

“Open the eyes of your heart.”

“…Even if I open the eyes of my heart, it doesn’t change the fact that Blackie has three eyes.”

I glanced at Blackie’s forehead. Earlier, in the room with the priests, Blackie’s third eye had been closed, but now it was clearly visible.

In truth, I had anticipated this issue before summoning Blackie, but I decided to brazen it out.

“What’s wrong with having three eyes? More is always better. Isn’t three better than two?”

“Sigh. It’s not that having three eyes is bad… But because of that eye, Blackie can’t be recognized as a divine beast.”

“Is there a record that says the divine beast has two eyes?”

“…There’s no such record, but it’s common sense that things in the middle realm have two eyes.”

“That’s a narrow-minded way of thinking. Change it.”

“Fine, I’ll admit I’m narrow-minded. But it doesn’t change the fact that Blackie can’t be the divine beast. Three eyes are considered unlucky in the middle realm.”

The crown prince’s words made me unconsciously bristle.

“Do humans not understand that discriminating against others based on physical characteristics is wrong?”

“…I never expected Lady Bella to say something like that.”

“Just because I’m a demon doesn’t mean I can’t distinguish right from wrong.”

“…I see.”

“In fact, demons might be more knowledgeable about morality and ethics than humans. Doing evil while knowing it’s wrong is worse than doing it unknowingly.”

“……”

The crown prince and I stood firm against each other.

The crown prince insisted that Blackie shouldn’t be introduced as the divine beast and advised me to admit that there had been a mistake in the summoning.

On the other hand, I refused to send Blackie back to the Demon Realm. I was determined to have Blackie recognized as the divine beast and keep it by my side.

As the argument deepened, Blackie suddenly began rubbing its forehead with its paw. The next moment, the third eye began to shrink until it eventually disappeared without a trace.

Both the crown prince and I were stunned by what had just happened.

I covered my mouth with my hand in amazement.

“To give up the power of the third eye just to avoid causing me trouble…”

My heart felt so touched that I almost wanted to break something out of sheer emotion.

Barely suppressing my destructive instincts, I lovingly stroked Blackie’s head. “When we return to the Demon Realm, I’ll give you one of my treasure vaults.”

Kkamang, Kkamang.

“Even if you say you don’t need it, I’ll give it to you. No, I’ll give you two. Or perhaps I should conquer a few territories and give them to you instead?” I held Blackie close as I spoke.

The crown prince looked at Blackie and me with a complicated expression.

I thought I heard him mutter something about another disaster appearing in the empire, but I probably misheard.

“Sigh. I suppose I can no longer oppose this. Once the high priest wakes up, I’ll officially announce the return of the saintess and the divine beast.”

After saying that, the crown prince asked one more question. “By the way, what power did Blackie give up along with that third eye?”

“The power to petrify opponents. It wouldn’t have affected strong beings, but if Blackie had opened its eye among the priests earlier, they would all have turned to stone.”

Of course, the petrification would have only been temporary and quickly reversed. But I didn’t mention that, as it might make Blackie seem weaker.

“…I’m glad nothing happened.”

“Come to think of it, it could have been a disaster. You might have turned to stone as well.”

“……”

“Well, nothing happened, so it’s fine. In fact, you should be happy. If you could resist Blackie’s power, it means you’re quite strong.”

“…I’ll be going now. Please enjoy your time with Blackie.”

And that evening.

News spread across the entire empire: the saintess and the divine beast has returned after five hundred years.

***

The same day.

Thump, thump, thump!

Heavy footsteps echoed through the corridors of the Demon King’s castle. Their owner was Seir, the Lord of Greed.

He was running through the corridor, his chest tight with anxiety.

‘If only teleportation weren’t prohibited inside the Demon King’s castle, I wouldn’t be late like this.’

Seir was ranked second among the nine lords of the Demon Realm. There were few demons capable of making someone like Seir feel so anxious.

However, today, he was late for the regular council meeting of the Demon Realm, hosted by the Demon King Lilith. No matter how self-absorbed Seir was, Lilith was an exception.

Lilith… Well, to be honest, Seir was terrified of Lilith.

Lilith was the oldest among the living demons.

She had lived for a hundred thousand years. Although Seir was no young demon himself, he was nothing compared to Lilith.

In the Demon Realm, where survival of the fittest was the rule, age was the best measure of a demon’s power.

Moreover, Lilith was known for her ruthless nature, even among the lords. If Seir ever got on Lilith’s bad side… Just imagining it made his knees weak.

After running for quite a while, Seir finally arrived at the entrance to the meeting room.

He swallowed nervously and opened the door.

The moment he entered the room, he was met with the gazes of eight pairs of eyes, all focused on him.

Lilith, seated at the head of the table, slowly looked Seir up and down. Her gaze was like that of a snake watching a mouse, and cold sweat began to trickle down Seir’s back.

“You’re late.”

Lilith said only that, gesturing for Seir to take his seat.

Fortunately, it seemed that Lilith wasn’t in a particularly bad mood today.