Chapter 78

〈 Chapter 77 〉 Part 3. Where There's National Pride, There's a Two-Faced Person (3)

* * *

After Ymir extracted the demon seed from Ermina.

—I believe you. You are indeed the protagonist.

Ymir wanted to say this.

'Only the protagonist has the power to do this, so Ymir must be the protagonist.'

The ability to purify, which can remove the side effects of 'rampage' and 'demonization'—the foundation of this world and a power granted to only one person in the world.

—Aaaah! I, I am not a murderer!

—Calm down! The demon is trying to make you a murderer! Don’t fall for its allure!

—Give up! I’m already turning into a demon!

—Aaaah!!! No...! I don’t want to become a demon and kill people!

—Grr...! There’s no choice! Everyone, step back! I’ll do it!

The protagonist used the purification ability to suppress the rampages of some heroines and return them to human form.

—The touch of Hwanwoong—!

—A, ah... Thank you...

—Hey, what is that power?

—...It’s a technique that uses the power of mugwort and garlic to turn non-human beings into humans! That’s how you should understand it!

However, this ability appeared around the third volume, so I didn’t expect it to show up at this point, which is essentially the first volume story.

‘Still, it’s a relief.’

I had a bit of hope.

‘Even though she appeared as a woman, she’s not a bad person.’

What if Ymir was the protagonist?

If Ymir had decided to let Ermina die as a human.

‘It’s really fortunate that she’s not the type of person who would kill all the demonized heroines or pretend not to notice just because she changed from a man to a woman.’

While I was intercepting the two-faced person, Ymir must have been trying to return Ermina to human form instead of killing her as a demon.

Fortunately, my guess was correct.

[Hey, Platinum Sun. You’re trying to hide that ability, right?]

[.......]

[You had no choice but to use your ability to purify Ermina, but you don’t want your power to be revealed, right?]

Ymir nodded heavily.

Now that I know Ymir has the purification ability, I can’t let her power spread recklessly.

There are countless demons in this world, and they are imprisoned everywhere. If it’s known that Ymir has the purification ability, this country will immediately turn her into a demon purification 'tool' to wield power.

[Go over there. Undo your transformation and lie down unconscious. I’ll take care of the rest.]

I pointed in the direction of the room where the mana powder was, and Ymir hesitated to take a step.

[The heroes will arrive in 30 seconds. We don’t have time. Do you want to reveal your identity?]

[Let me say one thing.]

Ymir reached out to me.

[I’ll return the robe you lent me. Let’s meet again on the night of the full moon at midnight.]

[......Alright.]

Ymir extended her pinky finger, and I made a pinky promise with her.

"...It’s a promise."

Ymir ran away, taking off her mask.

[It’s a promise. I see. To keep the promise, you need to escape from here.]

I held the golden orb Ymir left behind, which contained the demon seed, and waited for the heroes to arrive.

There were only a few minutes left.

Then.

‘What scenario should I use?’

First, Ymir was knocked out in the cave during the attack.

Then, Ermina is....

[Huh?]

She’s still alive.

The vital signs on the Taeguk Watch were almost gone, but she was clearly still alive.

[You didn’t die?]

I thought she would have died the moment the demon seed was ripped out of her stomach, but it seems she’s still alive.

However, she’s now a being that’s not quite alive.

[There’s no trace of magic in her body.]

Human Ermina Sternfort is alive, but.

‘Ermina Sternfort, the ability user,’ is dead.

All the power that formed the foundation of her ability is now contained in the golden orb, which I’m holding.

Even ‘female Ermina Sternfort’ is dead.

The part where the demon seed was embedded was the cradle of life for the birth of a new demon, as it took root and turned the host into a demon.

Once contaminated by the demon seed, her body can no longer bear a human.

In this situation, to protect Platinum Sun and Ymir, I need a single 'scenario.'

[Hmm.]

I have the answer.

Among the many scenarios in my head, to protect Ymir and hide her incredible abilities, I need to draw attention to myself.

"Kk, ugh...!"

[Huh? You’re still alive?]

Before the heroes arrived, the two-faced person, with a half-broken mask, glared at me with red eyes and gnashed his teeth.

"You...!"

He stared at me with blood-red eyes, and I pointed behind me.

[If you want to make her a true patriotic hero, you need to disappear from here.]

"......!"

[Do you want to reveal the identity of the Golden Taoist and the undercover inspector to the world?]

"!!"

The two-faced person glared at me with a confused face, and soon—

"...We’ll see!"

He left a promise-like statement and quickly disappeared into the sea.

Fortunately.

His voice was feminine, so the situation of 'Oh, a woman?' didn’t happen.

If he had been purely male, I wouldn’t have felt much burden about the nearly 30 minutes of beating Ymir gave me while attacking Nabereus.

If he had been a woman, I might have felt a bit guilty.

[Phew.]

The two-faced person left, and Ymir hid in the cave.

Now, all I have to do is wait for the heroes to arrive.

[Are they coming?]

I adjusted my magic and transformed into the appearance of a tuxedo goblin.

"Ah...!"

At the forefront of the approaching heroes was her.

Wearing a white coat-like overcoat, she leaped from the cliff, swirling in the snow—Snow White glared at me and assessed the situation.

"You are...exactly...?"

[You’re late, hero.]

To be honest, it’s not late.

It’s been exactly 5 minutes since the two-faced person reported the villain.

[Unfortunately, it’s all over. The demon Ermina is dead, and all that’s left is the shell of a demon.]

Puhwaaak—!

I clenched my hand and shattered the demon cradle extracted from Ermina.

Kiiiiik!!

The crushed demon seed let out a strange scream and burst, and I set the goblin fire to burn away all traces of the cradle on my hand.

[The demon is dead. Now, all that’s left is to kill Ermina Sternfort, who tried to kill her comrades.]

"...!!"

Snow White immediately reached out to me, and I swung the goblin bat horizontally and stepped back.

Chhjik!

An ice wall shot up from the ground to the sky in an instant.

The seawater seeping into the ground rose high to form a wall, and the speed was much faster than when the surroundings were flat.

[The terrain is not good.]

"Ermina Sternfort was protected! Hurry, the medical team should...!"

[This is outrageous.]

I pointed to the inside of the cave where Ymir would be 'unconscious.'

[Just because someone has a high rank, does that mean you prioritize the perpetrator over the victim?]

"What do you mean?"

[Inside there, Ermina Sternfort’s partner is there. She was attacked by Ermina and is unconscious inside.]

"......!!"

Baek Seul-hui, who was guarding Ermina, led her to another staff member and quickly ran into the sea cave.

I stood still.

I deliberately stood still and waited calmly until the staff members surrounded me in a circle.

[How shallow. Both A-rank and E-rank are just one person, and both are ability users. You only see the injured A-rank perpetrator in front of you, and the innocent and wronged victim attacked by that A-rank...]

"Medic!!"

Snow White’s scream echoed from inside the cave.

With a much more serious voice, she was looking for a medic, and beside her—

[?]

Ymir, covered in blood and injured, was there.

Her clothes were tattered as if torn by a sonic boom, and the exposed parts of her body were covered in marks as if her skin had been scraped by a sonic boom.

The injuries were more severe than when Ermina was stabbed in the back by the two-faced person.

But those injuries, to me, seemed...

"Hurry to the rear!!"

"A, yes!!"

Snow White led Ymir to another teacher, and the teachers who were about to load Ermina onto a stretcher hesitated for a moment before finally putting Ymir into the ambulance first.

"You...what did you see here?"

[What did I see? I saw justice disappearing. I saw the strong one-sidedly tormenting the weak. Just because the weak knew the secret of the strong.]

It seems Ymir added a bit of an excessive setting, but I looked at Ymir, who was being carried away on a stretcher.

Hehe.

If it wasn’t a hallucination.

Ymir