The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 80

Kueeeek—!

It wasn’t me screaming, but the monster.

I twisted the hand I had shoved inside the monster’s mouth.

The hand I had temporarily transformed using magic was lined with sharp claws.

Each time I twisted, the monster writhed in agony.

“…A predator falling to its prey. How ironic.”

It had wasted its breath saying pointless things. Did it think I would falter if it talked like that…?

“Seems like you’re as foolish as a typical monster. Your so-called invasion? It ended before I was even born.”

Even if I had inherited memories from that time, I hadn’t personally experienced it.

How could that possibly affect me?

Rage toward the Demon God?

“And it seems you’re behind on your news— I sealed that damned Demon God with my own hands long ago.”

I gazed down at the dying monster with cold eyes.

“And you find me disgusting? Ha.”

I never thought I’d hear something like that from a monster. If anything, monsters were the remnants of an invading force that had once threatened our world.

“Though, I must admit—I’ve occasionally found my own existence repulsive.”

After all, a god long dead had been forcibly reborn multiple times at the whims of the Demon God and his brothers, who possessed the Power of Creation…

But so what?

“You won’t leave a single trace behind. You’ll disappear from this world forever. But I won’t. No matter how many times, I will survive to the very end.”

The magic flowing from my hand seeped into the monster’s forehead.

Demonic energy couldn’t harm a monster. But magic wasn’t composed purely of demonic energy.

Crack.

The magic that had burrowed beneath the monster’s flesh began to destroy it from within.

Like a crumbling statue, cracks started forming across the monster’s body.

—”Stop. I will answer your question.”

A deep, hoarse voice escaped the monster.

—”A man with an aura similar to yours approached me.”

“Not that it will change anything.”

—”He said he would open the passageway and ordered me to kill all the humans. For me, the opportunity to slaughter humans was enticing, so I accepted.”

“You seem to grow smarter when facing death.”

I chuckled at the monster’s sudden verbosity.

Regardless, I continued pouring more magic into its body.

“Next time, be more careful about which demon you provoke. Oh, but I suppose there won’t be a next time for you.”

Crack. Crack.

I tore through the monster’s body with my magic, fueled by anger.

In the end, unable to withstand it, the monster shattered into pieces.

Despite the bothersome creature’s death, I still felt unsettled.

As I stood silently, Nigel cautiously approached me.

“Didn’t go well, huh?”

Though he had only caught half of the conversation, Nigel didn’t press me for details.

Judging by my expression, he was probably trying to be considerate.

I shot him a sharp glare. “How much did you understand?”

“Barely anything.”

I narrowed my eyes further. Nigel merely shrugged. “A little? I mean, I already knew about the invasion.”

“Have you never questioned how the Demon Lords gained their power?”

“Bella, you don’t have to explain. I can live just fine without knowing.”

“Isn’t it odd that Demon Lords possess the same power as their creator, the Demon God?”

“No one finds it strange.”

Nigel tried to calm me down, but I continued, “Originally, only gods had power. But when they started dying, the gods with the Power of Creation restored only their abilities. That’s how beings like me came to exist.”

That was why Belial and several other Demon Lords despised the Demon God.

They could never forgive the being that had forced them into existence against their will.

“Being reborn through another’s will is not a pleasant experience.”

And to become eternally bound to someone who was once your equal…

I scrunched my nose. This was exactly why I hated calling the Demon God my father.

Now then.

I cast a sidelong glance at Nigel. In my agitation, I had revealed far too much to him.

“The origin of the Demon Lords is not something we like to discuss. It’s practically a secret among us.”

“So I’ve just uncovered that secret?”

“…Yeah?”

What should I do about this?

I hesitated for a moment.

Normally…

I muttered under my breath, “To keep a secret from leaking, the best way is…”

“Hey! I didn’t ask! You were the one who started talking all on your own!”

Nigel freaked out upon hearing my murmuring.

I ignored his protests and pondered my next move.

But then… this is Nigel.

We are… friends.

With a sigh, I finally spoke, “Fine. I’ll trust you this once. Not like you’re the type to go spreading this around.”

“…Wow. Thanks so much.”

Nigel responded in a heavily sarcastic tone.

I was sparing his life, yet he had the nerve to sound so ungrateful. Annoying as it was, I decided to let it slide.

After a brief pause, I asked the question that had been on my mind since earlier.

“What do you think about my birth?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, the Power of Contracts has been reborn dozens of times. That’s… not normal, right?”

“Why—”

“Wait a moment. If you say it’s abnormal, I won’t kill you… but I will punish you.”

“……”

“If you say you no longer want to be my so-so friend because of my birth, I’ll really get angry.”

I glared fiercely at Nigel.

In response, Nigel flicked my forehead lightly.

“Hey!”

As I scowled at his sudden action, Nigel shook his head and spoke, “Bella… you really underestimate our lukewarm friendship.”

He sighed before continuing, “Look, even if you turned out to be a monster, it wouldn’t bother me. And the secret of your birth? I don’t care at all. I don’t even see why it should be considered abnormal.”

Hearing Nigel’s words, I gradually felt calmer.

Well, it wasn’t like Nigel was someone who would judge me based on my origins.

And it wasn’t as if I had been unaware of the connection between the Demon God and the Demon Lords…

I had no idea why I had suddenly spoken that way.

Maybe my conversation with the monster had agitated me more than I realized.

Once I fell silent, Nigel asked me, “But seriously, why does your speech pattern keep changing?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean now! Just now, your way of speaking was completely different!”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

Feigning innocence, I put on a straight face and began rummaging through the monster’s corpse.

A short while later, I found what I was looking for.

I raised an eyebrow at the magic stone extracted from the monster.

Since it hadn’t been an exceptionally powerful monster, I had expected the magic stone to be small and weak…

But it was about the size of a baby’s fist, with a deep hue indicating a significant concentration of magic.

“Hurry up and destroy that thing, then let’s go back. People will start looking for you.”

“Hmm. Alright.”

Pretending to crush the stone, I instead slipped it into my pocket when Nigel wasn’t looking.

Hopefully, I wouldn’t have any use for this stone… but one never knew when it came to demons.

***

Upon returning to the hunting grounds, we were met with sharp questioning.

“Isabella.”

The Duke looked at me with a hardened expression.

I couldn’t understand his reaction.

Hadn’t I just displayed the most saintly behavior possible?

“You’re out of your mind. Why would you step forward like that?!”

“Hold on, Duke. There’s something more important to discuss.”

The High Priest interrupted him and turned to me.

“Saintess, that prayer… What exactly did you pray for that made the monsters chase after you?”

“A sincere prayer?”

“Hmm. I see. Then, what happened to the monsters that followed you?”

“He killed them.”

I pointed at Nigel with my finger.

Couldn’t they just be a little grateful? I had wiped out all the monsters.

As the questions continued, my expression gradually darkened.

Noticing this, Nigel whispered to me, “Let’s do that.”

“That?”

“Yeah, that! The trick we always used to escape meetings!”

Ah.

I took a moment to recall the past.

Woof! Woof woof!

“Oh dear. Fluffy seems to have caught a cold. They say even dogs don’t catch summer colds…”

“Bella? I’ve never heard that saying before.”

“It’s a common expression in the Demon Realm. Anyway, Fluffy must be worse than a dog. I must go take care of him.”

Humans loved meetings. Back when I traveled with the hero’s party, they would seize every opportunity to hold a meeting.

Nigel and I, sick of those meetings, always used tricks like that to escape.

I shot Nigel a look, signaling him to collapse.

But Nigel just scoffed and whispered, “Hey, you’re a noble lady and a saintess now. Even if I pretended to be sick, who would care? I’m just a servant. You have to be the one to faint.”

…That made sense.

As Nigel and I whispered back and forth in front of the Duke and the High Priest, their expressions grew increasingly stiff.

Realizing that this would only lead to more trouble, I quickly followed Nigel’s suggestion.

“Ah… I feel dizzy. I need to lie down.”

I briefly considered collapsing on the spot but decided against it, worried that it would look unseemly.

So instead, I gently lay down as gracefully as possible.

Everyone around me stared at me with strange expressions.

…What?

Nigel, in particular, was shaking his head in disbelief.

I quickly deduced the problem.

…It seemed my acting had been too poor.

Well, there was no helping it.

‘Isabella, forgive me. I’ll heal your body completely later.’

If I couldn’t pretend to faint… I would actually faint.

I temporarily surged my magic within Isabella’s human body.

Cough!

Unable to withstand it, blood trickled from my lips.

Perfect execution— no, this wasn’t acting.

My consciousness began fading.

The last thing I saw was Nigel mouthing the words, “That was too much.”