Chapter 100

Selena gently laid the girl in black on the ground.

Ran began the healing with a recovery spell.

"Her breathing... is steady. The recovery spell seems to be working."

Ran said, looking relieved.

The girl in black seemed to be safe.

There were still concerns, such as when she would wake up and whether there would be any aftereffects, but for now, the rescue could be considered a success.

Alicia folded her arms and said,

"But, what's going on? Was this girl possessed by the evil dragon?"

"But, evil dragons are beings taken over by demons using dark powers, right? Just like the ancestral dragon that Ran and the others faced, which was controlled by a demon."

While it wasn't confirmed, it was highly likely that the evil dragon was also controlled by a demon, just like the ancestral dragon.

In fact, looking at the evil dragon they had just defeated, the ominous aura from a moment ago seemed like a lie.

The dark magic that had enveloped it had disappeared, and its scales had turned a vivid red instead of black. It didn't look like an evil dragon at all, though calling it a regular dragon was also strange.

In other words, the demon inside this dragon was gone.

However, they hadn't seen the demon being defeated.

They had only managed to expel it from the girl's body.

So, was this girl a demon?

But the girl, who had been controlling the dragon, seemed to be controlled by someone else.

Given that they had been able to converse with her until just now, it was unlikely that she was a demon.

"That's right... if she's human..."

I sat down and checked the girl's hands.

I rolled up her sleeves slightly and examined the backs of her hands.

If she were human, there should be a crest...

But this child had none—

"No crest?"

"Huh?"

The crest that everyone, whether human or demon, should have.

The girl's hands had none.

Selena recalled,

"...When I fought the woman in black, I didn't see a crest on her hands either."

"But, wasn't that woman a priestess of the Night Worship Cult? A religion that worships people with dark crests?"

Ran's question was answered by Alicia.

"The crest disappears from the hands of people who have turned into demons..."

"So, this girl is—"

Not just Yurii, but everyone looked at the girl in shock.

"—a demon."

Ran whispered.

"Even though she looks human..."

"Besides, she could talk just now—ah!"

Yurii exclaimed mid-sentence.

The girl had opened her eyes.

"She's regained consciousness! Water, now!"

Ran immediately tried to offer her the water bottle at his waist.

However, the girl suddenly gathered magic from the surroundings and transformed it into dark magic.

I hastily defended with a Dark Wall.

When the black miasma subsided, the girl had instantly moved to a slightly distant location.

It wasn't human speed.

She had probably used a Teleport spell.

Moreover, her body was now covered in dark magic.

The girl clutched her head and groaned in pain.

"...Run... no... you guys..."

The girl strained to speak clearly.

"—kill me."

Then, she let out a pained cry and released a black miasma.

"Ugh!!"

Alicia instantly dispelled the black miasma with holy magic.

Compared to the evil dragon earlier, the magic was incredibly weak.

The magic surrounding the girl was also very weak.

If we wanted to, we could easily defeat her.

But, of course, we didn't want to do that.

"Listen to me. I might be able to help you."

Even as the girl continued to release dark magic, she responded to me.

"That's... impossible."

"It's possible. Become my servant."

"Servant...? So, you are—"

"Not a demon. I also have a dark crest."

"But if you're not a demon, why do you have a servant? And who's moving the dark magic?"

"It's me."

The girl, forgetting her pain and suffering, looked at me in surprise.

"How can that be... aren't you controlled by a demon?"

"No. I haven't been controlled by one yet."

"I can't believe it... usually, we're like that."

The girl fired dark magic at us again.

"There must be a technique we don't know... If we knew it, this wouldn't have happened."

The girl said with a serious expression.

"I'm beyond saving... please, kill me."

"If you become my servant, I can control your actions. Selena here was the same. So—"

"I want to... but the demon won't allow it. If you wanted to make me a servant, you could have done it already."

The girl seemed to want to trust me and become my servant.

But the demon controlling her body wouldn't allow it.

"So, please, quickly... if you don't kill me, I'll—kill you all!!"

The girl shouted in a rough voice and began to gather a large purple light in her hand.

Yurii said with a sad face,

"! ...Is there no other way!?"

In the midst of this, Alicia said to me,

"Lord Alex... do you remember when we fought the demons?"

"Yes. In the end, everyone returned to their human personalities."

Enetoa's son entrusted the future of the guild to us, and Toreas apologized to the betrayed Enetoa.

Tika and Nate, and even Miaru, who had been demonized, had regained their personalities in the end.

From this, we understood that when a demon is weakened, control of the body returns to the original owner.

If I could draw out the dark magic from the girl, she might be able to move freely again.

Moreover, compared to the demons she had been fighting, this girl retained much more of her humanity.

I was sure I could bring her back to being human.

I would take away her dark magic and silence the demon.

"Ah, I'm tired of this... weak demon, if you're going to attack, use all your magic. I doubt you can even scratch me with your level of power."

I taunted her, and her body was enveloped in black miasma.

"Ugh!! ...Weak human!! I'll turn you to ashes!!"

She fell for the obvious provocation...

Demons, which I once thought were terrifying beings, had shown their weaknesses through repeated battles.

First, they were easily provoked.

And their actions didn't seem to grasp the situation at all.

They didn't even question that I was using dark magic.

They were just beings that wreaked havoc with their immense power...

Of course, there would be individual differences. Some might be incredibly intelligent.

As I waited, the girl eventually fired black miasma from both hands.

The continuous miasma was similar to the evil dragon's breath from earlier.

"Lord Alex!!"

"I'm fine!"

I defended with a Dark Wall.

In reality, I had been confident, but it was quite powerful.

"Ugh—okay."

The girl stopped firing the black miasma.

Seeing this, I immediately drew the dark magic gathering around her to myself.

The dark magic quickly separated from her body.

"What!? Movement... magic!"

She couldn't use Teleport due to the lack of magic.

I called out to the confused girl.

"You should be able to move freely now!"

"A human like you controlling my body... what... wait, don't listen to her!"

The girl, clutching her head in pain, said,

"Stop...! I'm your—stop!!"

The girl screamed and looked down.

But after a while, she slowly raised her head and said seriously,

"...Make me—your servant."

"Alright."

As I said this, the girl's body was enveloped in light.

When the light subsided... the girl was still there, unchanged.

However, the pained expression on her face had disappeared.

The girl brought her hands to her chest and said in surprise,

"My body... it moves. I can't hear the demon's voice—"

I nodded at the girl.

"You're free now."

"Thank you... thank you."

The girl began to cry again.

But this time, she wasn't sobbing; she was crying out loud.

And so, the girl in black was freed from the demon.

The third volume of the comic adaptation of this work, drawn by Mr. Hanajiro Abekawa, is now available!

This third volume is packed with charm, including bonus content on the back cover that can only be found in the physical edition.

I hope you will give it a read!

Here is the cover image!

Product information! (KADOKAWA official site)

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