As he could not hear the sound of fighting between Gremory and the monster of the Third Floor that he had summoned, Ferzen thought he had walked a fairly long distance.
“Sp-spare…… Pl-please spare me……”
However, when an enemy mage, who was no longer at a safe distance from him and had been driven to the ground suddenly made a miserable plea that broke his brief reverie, Ferzen looked down at her with his emotionless crimson eyes.
Since he did not have much leeway, he planned to blow her head using Isabel’s power and pass by……
Thud-!!
But when the robe she wore was peeled off her head by the raging snowstorm and her red hair, which looked just like Lizzy's, fell down, Ferzen involuntarily held his breath.
That’s right……
Why didn't I think of that?
“Ahhhh!”
Ferzen grabbed her head and ran his fingers through her hair as she laid on the snow, begging for her life. Then, without hesitation, he stroked his altar to open the gate of the underworld.The gate was connected to the 1st floor, not the 3rd floor.
Meanwhile, the monster he had made a deal with was the Copycat.
“P-please……!”
Since the number of goods that the monster needed was relatively small, its true body descended soon after and completely covered the woman in front of her with the appearance of Lizzy.
Could this really fix the rampaging OCD?
He wasn't sure. However, if there was even the slightest possibility that it would succeed, shouldn't he take the chance?
There was no need to even weigh the price. After all, it only took a small amount of goods as well as one life of an enemy soldier.
“A-ah……”
He unfastened her robe and pulled her uniform back slightly. After that, he buried his head against her exposed collarbone.
Because the deal was not simply borrowing its ability to use it but to make the monsters descend with its real body, it changed the soldier’s appearance with a high degree of perfection.
The body odor that was mixed with the smell of sweat was clearly Lizzy's.
The shape of her body, which was clearly imprinted in his head that night, was also there.
Therefore, Ferzen intensely whispered ‘Lizzy’ to the woman in front of him……
Thud-!!
“Eu, ah……?”
He then cut her right ear.
“Ah…… Ack! Aaaaaghhhh!”
The enemy mage let out a scream in a voice that was no different than Lizzy's voice.
But Ferzen did not stop there. He pressed his knees firmly against her shoulders and held her delicate chin with his large hands.
Then, he reached out towards the right violet eye of her, which was shaking due to fear as tears streamed down her face...…
Stab-!!
“Heu…… Kehuak! Ah……! Aarggghhh!”
He removed her eyeballs in one go.
At that moment, the eyelid covered her hollow eye socket.
Then, Instead of tears, blood trickled down her cheeks.
“……”
But even after doing those things, Ferzen felt that the hold of the eternally unfixable asymmetry that Lizzy had carved into him was still there
In the first place, the woman in front of him was not Lizzy.
He knew better than anyone else that the woman in front of him was just a fake who was wearing a shell of hers.
From the beginning, this was nothing more than a struggle against his destined end.
All that was left was the unpleasant sensation lingering on his fingertips and the traces of the woman’s blood that was staining the hem of his clothes.
Ferzen then lifted his staggering body up while exhaling a helpless breath before gracefully killing the enemy mage who was writhing in the snow.
“You have a far worse taste than I thought.”
“……”
Step-!!
Gremory did not hide her presence beyond the snowstorm and just revealed it.
“The more noble someone is, the more rotten they are on the inside.”
“……”
“Looking at me like this, did you lust for me too?”
Gremory, who had an iron pin in her torn right foot and a crude prosthetic hand wrapped with magic on her left hand, ran her hand through her distinctive blue hair and sneered.
Lust, huh……
Ferzen did not feel that emotion at all. However, he did think that the symmetry suited her quite well as she had no left arm.
The important thing was it would have been possible for her to exploit the gap that he showed.
The reason she didn't do that was probably because of her arrogance in believing in her own power,
Or maybe because she had another thing in mind.
From Gremory’s point of view, she had not completely thrown away her hypothesis, so she just intentionally did not aim for Ferzen's life.
Her current remaining magic power was at most 5%.
With that level of magical power, if she was grabbed by a monster at a distance, that would make evasion impossible, as last time. Not only would she suffer a loss, but there was a strong possibility that she would lose her life.
Of course, even taking that into consideration, the gap that Ferzen showed just a moment ago was very appetizing.
However, she didn't want to gamble with her life because he had already experienced it.
She would just stay true to their intention of applying enough pressure on him to force him to open the gate to the Underworld and retreat cleanly.
“……”
On the other hand, while Ferzen had doubts about Gremory's excessive carefulness, he could not infer anything more.
After all, he did not have the leeway to consider that the enemy was mistaken in their judgment.
However, it was visible that she clearly knew what she wanted from him right now.
“You looked like a child that was expecting a present on their birthday, Gremory.”
“……”
“Right…… It’s not like I can’t do what you want me to do.”
Ferzen, who stroked his altar and opened the gate of the underworld, looked at her quietly.
However, the number of floors that appeared on the sign was not the Third Floor but the Second Floor.
“Are you looking down on this Empress?”
“I’m not looking down on you. You just don’t have the talent for negotiation.”
“……”
“I have a lot to think about. I have no intention of joining your entertainment project, so just be satisfied with this.”
It was quite the provocation on his part, but Gremory did not dare to chase after Ferzen, who turned his back and slowly disappeared with Isabel beyond the snowstorm.
Boom-!!
However, dropping that hesitation,
After using the blade to repel the monster that was attacking her from the opening gate of the Underworld, Gremory pulled her right arm backward and threw her sword with all her might toward Ferzen’s back.
At that point, Gremory harbored a faint regret, wondering if the hypothesis she had developed was true.
However, not retaliating after being subjected to that much ridicule did not sit well with her.
Bzztt-!!
However, as she had expected, a bundle of intense electricity passed through her skin like a storm and burned her sword which was on its way towards Ferzen.
As soon as she was barely able to open her eyes amidst the tingling sensation that assaulted her body, she saw a huge magnetic field was burning away the snow that had accumulated on the floor. Not only that, it even pushed away the raging snowstorm from its vicinity.
“If you didn’t have the power that was given to you……”
“……”
“You will probably be nothing but a troublesome and insignificant girl.”
Ha!
Gremory laughed as Ferzen, who did not even look at her properly while spouting such harsh words, gradually widened the distance at a slow pace.
The only thing that was there with her currently was the monster who had descended from the Second Floor of the Underworld which was preparing to rush towards her.
‘…… I’m really curious how long that confidence will last.’
As if hanging out with her pet dog, Gremory bought time to replenish her magic power by dodging the attacks of the monster.
The body parts she had sacrificed so far were her left arm and her right foot.
That meant that the magical power output that could be produced arbitrarily had increased further.
The price Ferzen had paid so far was the fact that he could no longer gnaw on her body anymore.
Would it be quicker for this Empress to eat you, or for you to eat this Empress?
With excitement bubbling on her inside, Gremory bid her time to wrap her recovered magic around her right arm before smashing the creature's head in.
* * * * * *
Rustle-!!
When the connection between him and Isabel was forcibly released due to his depleted magic power, Ferzen held Isabel's body, which was about to fall onto the snow, tightly with both of his hands and let a white breath out.
Although he had expected it to some extent, controlling a corpse with an unstable connection consumed far more magical power than he had imagined.
It would make it almost impossible for him to control Isabel alongside the remaining previous Heads of Brutein in the next battle.
No, in fact, the problem was not only in the aspect of the war but also after the war ended.
“Isabel.”
“……”
“Isabel Ron Pierre Genova.”
He knew better than anyone else that there was no way she, who was nothing but a corpse, would answer his words...…
However, as if he hadn't thought about anything like that in the first place, Ferzen continued speaking as he brushed away the snow that had stuck to her face.
“The ending that awaits me...… Will it be different from yours?”
The faint despair he was trying to hide mixed with his weak voice as his large back hunched even more.
And when Ferzen realized that she couldn't speak and that he was trying to be comforted by a corpse that couldn't even hug him, he smiled bitterly.
“Forget it.”
“……”
“Isabel. I…… I won’t end up like you.”
After retrieving her to his subspace, Ferzen raised his head and started to walk again. At first glance, he looked no different from his usual self.
However, his back was still hunched. It looked so pitiful to the point that the raging snowstorm probably felt bad for him.
After all, more and more snow started to pour at that moment, obscuring his features from any prying eyes.
***
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