As someone who had just explained how dangerous the Devils were, I knew best of the danger behind what I was trying to do.
Considering that the other party was none other than the White Devil, the one whoâd always cause troubles recklessly, the danger was considerably higher than normal.
[...What is this�]
The White Devil grabbed the dog collar on her neck with both her hands with a dumbfounded look.
Her expression suggested that she failed to understand what had been done to her. But, before she could get angry or somethingâŠ
âUmph.â
While taking advantage of her unguarded state, I hung a âleashâ on the hook that protruded from the choker.
Well, I called it a leash, but this thing was made of an alloy of starsteel and ectoplasm that Professor Vulkan made while screaming.
In other words, this thing was strong enough that it wouldnât break right away even if it came into contact with the Devils directly.
After that, I pulled itâŠ
So that I could âpull this punk downâ to the ground.
[...!]
She was crossing her arms mid-air when I pulled the leash, slamming her to the ground.
That would probably be the first time in her life that she had experienced something like this.
Being treated like an âanimalâ by someone else like this, I meantâŠ
With her body being slammed to the floor, her eyes widened in an instant. For a while, her eyes shook in confusion, but it soon glistened with rage as she sent me a burning gaze.
[What the hell are you doingâŠ!]
The White Demonic Aura undulating nearby reacted to her command and seethed terrifyingly. I could feel a pressure strong enough to cause an ordinary humanâs brain to boil the moment they saw it coming from all directions.
â...â
I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down.
At the end of the day, I was still a human, so there was no way that I wouldnât be unaffected by her Aura. If I were to keep being exposed to it like this, Iâd eventually fall into her control.
ButâŠ
There was âsomething that I could useâ on this punk.
I mean, in the past, back when we met an angel, I had suppressed this punk by using the Seal right before she went berserk.
Check this out.
System Message
[ Checking the stage of the Seal. ]
[ Confirmed to be Stage 2. ]
[ With·??????????????????? ?????????????????·?????????????????????????????????·??????????????????? ?????????????????·????????????????????????????????? âs privilege, you will gain control over the Target! ]
[ Checking status of Target⊠]
WARNING!
[ The Target is not the âVesselâ but the Devil's âMain Bodyâ. It is impossible to suppress it with the Seal of the current stage! ]
However, unlike back then, the same method didn't work since the target wasn't Yuria but the White Devil herself.
But it didnât discourage me, as I took a deep breath before opening my mouth.
âObey.â
You see, if the seal failed to work because the target was the White Devil instead of Yuria, then I just had to strengthen it.
As for how to do itâŠ
The way the Seal worked was that itâd absorb a Devilâs Demonic Aura it came in contact with. Coincidentally, I was stickily entangled with the âmost powerfulâ Devil just a while ago.
â[My words.]â
A âpolyphonicâ voice that wasnât mine was mixed in my voice.
System Message
[ Using the Demonic Aura of âC????????????????????????e????????????????????????????????? ????????????°???????????????3???????????????????????â which is in the âFallenâs Sealâ! ]
[ Endowing Target with âcompelling powerâ! ]
[--!!!!]
After thatâŠ
The White Devil fell flat on the ground with her eyes wide open.
It was as if she was worshiping me, like a servant facing her king.
[WhatâŠ!]
âIâve told you.â
As she was gasping in shock, I approached her. Squatting down, I met her gaze at her eye level.
âIf you keep causing trouble, Iâd have no choice but to punish you.â
Upon hearing that, she gasped while barely raising only her head.
Not only were her eyes burningâthey almost shone. Anger, bewilderment, humiliation, shame, all seemed to be mixed together in one place.
[SealâŠ! Gray, thatâŠ!]
Then, a killing intent that could probably skin people alive just by standing near it came out of her.
â...â
As expected, a Devil was a Devil.
I swear, if I were to âfightâ or do something along that line with this punk, Iâd get my neck cut by her in under a second. That was how big the difference of âclassâ was between us as Life Forms.
[That damn punk, Iâm going to kill her, to my possession, to my partner, what did sheâŠ!!]
âIâm not your partner.â
HoweverâŠ
Right now, I was in control of this punk. There was no reason not to take advantage of it.
While wearing a big smileâŠ
I slightly raised her face, who was wearing a dog collar while lying flat on the ground while panting.
âCall me master.â
[...]
Hearing that, the White Devilâs jaw dropped.
She looked as if she had just heard something she shouldâve not heard.
[...What?]
That was the only thing that she barely managed to let out after being in a daze for a while.
She looked as if she wanted to ask me âAre you for real?â
âI said, from now on, call me master.â
I repeated in a low voice.
Then, I mixed in the âpolyphonicâ in my next words.
â[This is an order.]â
[-!]
As soon as I said thatâŠ
The White Devilâs body flinched, as if she was struck by electric currents.
âLook at me.â
I held her chin and raised it up, forcing her to meet my gaze.
As if enjoying the humiliation, rage, and confusion on her trembling face that she couldnât hide properly, I slowly scanned her face.
âWho am I?â
She bit her lip until it bled. I could see clearly how she was blushing to the tips of her ears from the embarrassment.
[...MasâŠterâŠ]
âThere you go. Good job.â
I said while patting her on the head.
With a smile still hanging on my face, I continued.
âItâs cute how obedient you are. Just like a pet dog.â
[...-! YouâŠ!]
As soon as she heard that, her pupils became thin slits.
This mustâve been the most pissed-off expression a Devil could make. If she wasnât under my control, she wouldâve actually done something to me.
HoweverâŠ
â[Huh, why does the dogâ]â
I continued calmly.
â[-try to talk like a human?]â
The White Devilâs expression went blank in an instant.
It was as if she was trying to say, âNo wayâŠâ.
As if she was thinking that no matter how crazy I was, there was no way Iâd dare to do something like this to her.
âWhat are you doing?â
But, I ignored that and continued nonchalantly.
âI said youâre a dog right now.â
[...]
â[So, bark.]â
The White Devilâs pupils shook.
She then slowly lowered her head, as if she couldnât keep her head up.
As her forehead touched the ground, she stayed still for a while.
[...Woof.]
Soon afterâŠ
Such a sound left her lips; It was clear how much she struggled to let it out though.
[Woof⊠WooofâŠ]
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Huh, so Devilsâ could tear up too?
She was the White Devil, one of the most powerful beings in all dimensions.
Right now, in front of me, with a dog collar on, she was lying flat on the ground, sticking her forehead onto the ground.
In that pose, she started barking like a dog.
[Woof⊠Woof woof⊠WoofâŠ]
Of course, between her barks, she threw me fierce glares here and there. Hell, I could even see killing intent in her gaze. If I didnât keep a tight grip properly on her, I swear Iâd faint the moment our eyes met.
HoweverâŠ
When I took just a step back and checked on her under such pressureâŠ
I could see how hard she was blushing, and how she was about to cry from embarrassment due to her staying in that pose. This meant that she had no means to defy me right now.
There you go.
If the other person was Faenol, the one who possessed all the Fragments of the Red Devil, this method would never work since the Seal hadnât developed enough yet.
Also, it would never work against Eleanor, since the Gray Devil was the one who imprinted this Seal on me.
Actually, if Yuria possessed one more Fragment inside her, there was a high chance that this method wouldnât have worked against the White Devil.
ButâŠ
She only has one Fragment.
Thatâs why I can deal with her this easily.
So, what can you do now, huh?
What else can you do besides getting angry and annoyed at me? Besides shaking, helplessly, trying to hold your embarrassment, hm?
_âŠHuh? _
[Woof⊠Woof woof⊠Woo⊠Heuk⊠Eu⊠Geuk⊠WooâŠoofâŠ]
More time passed, now, even her pronunciation became unclear.
Her expression looked as if she was about to lose her mind. I could see her whole body was shaking.
Seeing how her fists were trembling greatly, I began to feel bad for her.
This was probably enough.
âListen to me.â
I called out to her as I cleared my throat. At this point, it sounded almost as if she was sobbing.
âDonât come out from Yuriaâs body until I call you. Think of this as a probationary period for you. Got it?â
[...]
âIf you promise me, Iâll stop giving you âpunishmentsâ.â
âPromiseâ was like a contract to the Devils. They could never break it themselves.
If she were to promise me that here, sheâd never take over Yuriaâs body as she liked.
âAnswer.â
[...]
âOr maybe you want to keep going? I donât mind ordering you to do this all night.â
[...I⊠Got itâŠ]
Seeing the way she answered me while trembling, I let out a refreshing smile.
Good, she listened to me.
[...This bastard is accumulating bad karma againâŠ]
â...â
[Didnât you learn anything after getting squeezed out by the Gray Devil a while ago?]
Oh, come on MisterâŠ
Stop saying weird things like that...
â
â...She went back in.â
I muttered while looking at the White Devil disappearing into Yuria.
It would take some time for the Demonic Aura this punk had let out as she went out to be cleared away, but to put it another way, it meant that I just had to wait for a bit for the surroundings to return to normal again.
As I dragged Yuriaâs body and made her sit where she originally was, a voice suddenly came from the Soul Linker.
[Is this the means to deal with the Devils thing that you mentioned?] freewebnÞvel.coɱ
âŠWell, itâs still incomplete.
I thought as such while looking at the Seal on my chest that was still pulsating.
Basically, the Seal had a function to allow me to interact with the Devils the closer I came into contact with them. The closer I got, the more possible âmanagingâ them would become.
I figured that since I was able to do that thing with the Gray Devil, I should be able to do this much somehow.
System Log
[ The âWhite Devilâ is obeying you. ]
[ The âWorshipâ stack is boosted by one. ]
[ Once the stack is full, target will function as a part of ·??????????????????? ?????????????????·?????????????????????????????????·??????????????????? ?????????????????·????????????????????????????????? ! ]
[ There are currently two âWorshipâ stacks! One stack remaining before itâs completely filled! ]
How this Worship stack rose after I made the White Devil obey me proved my conjecture.
I assumed that a new function or something would be unlocked until I filled it up.
Which meantâŠ
_âŠI guess I'll have to come into contact with them more frequently from now on. _
After all, it was the Devils who held the casting vote in the story, and this seal was the most important means to lead them directly to the âHappy Endingâ I had in mind.
So, the thing I needed to do the most was to enhance my abilities while coming into contact with them.
[...You sure the White Devil wouldnât just try to kill you immediately the next time you meet her?]
_âŠProbably, yeah? _
Even if she wouldnât actually kill me, sheâd probably do something close to that.
Gray Devilâs Demonic Aura could only control this punk once, so it would be best for me to not meet her for a while.
At least until I had another means to control this punk again.
[By the way, you were saying that youâd need to come into contact with the Devils more frequently, right?]
Yeah?
[So, will you be doing the same thing you did to the White Devil to the otherâ]
âŠStop painting me like a crazy pervert! Why the hell is that even a question?!
[You're not denying itâŠ]
â...â
Well, you knowâŠ
Sometimes, Iâd need to use such a rough means for punks like the White Devil, who just wouldnât listen to me no matter what. I had no choice, okay?
And there was also someone who became the reason I needed to activate the Seal functions as soon as possible, even if I had to do it by doing something like this.
â...â
I slightly squinted my eyes and looked up at the 2nd floor where I was standing just now.
Marquis Bogut was already nowhere to be seen.
Until just now, he had been watching from that place.
It seemed like he went away as soon as I managed to suppress the White Devil.
I had a feeling that he wanted to âcheck it outâ, I guess that was true after all, huh?
If he didnât, he wouldnât need to see what I did before disappearing.
â...â
Come to think of it.
What the hell was that bastard?
Like, that bastard wasnât affected by the White Devilâs Demonic Aura.
In my case, I had the Seal and some Skills that helped with it.
As for Cecilia the 11th, she was a Devilâs Vessel.
What was it that he had? How could he be unaffected by Yuriaâs Demonic Aura?
âŠWhat an annoying fucker.
He was also the main villain in Chapter 5, but⊠The âominousâ vibe he gave off was at the same level as the Prophet.
It was as if there was more to him than playing such a role.
As I thought while letting out a sighâŠ
â...You.â
A voice that suddenly came from beside me made me promptly turn my head.
It was Her Imperial Majesty the Empress. Her eyes, which were always half-closed, were now opened wide in shock.
She looked as if she couldn't comprehend the situation just now.
â...Are you okay, Your Imperial Majesty?â
I asked while letting out a bitter smile.
Come to think of it, she hadn't even realized that she was a Devil's Vessel.
It was natural that she couldn't understand a single thing, from what was going on to the result of what I had just doneâŠ
âYou have a little more extreme taste than I thoughtâŠ?â
â...â
âAre you going to make me do things like that too laterâŠ?â
â...â
âPlease give me a word in advance if youâre going to do it so that I could mentally prepare myselfââ
_Cecilia the 11th, woman⊠_
What the fuck are you on about�