Wearing a black gothic dress, with long silver hair trailing on the ground.
Staring at me with shining silver eyes, grinning as if deeply amused, she spoke to me casually.
“It hasn’t been that long, has it? One day? Fufu, I never thought we’d meet again so soon.”
“Ah…I definitely didn’t expect to see you again in a place like this either,” I said to the smiling girl before me – Enri, who had mysteriously withdrawn in the final match of the tournament without fighting.
“Alright… as I said before, shall we have a leisurely chat? What should we talk about? The story of the delicious food we had before or the recent interesting events? Take your pick.”
“There’s no way I would. Instead of that, why am I in a place like this? Why did my left arm get blown off?”
Enri spoke to me as if talking to a friend, and I asked her without hesitation.
In the first place… I should be covered by “Body Enhancement,” which should prevent any harm to my body. So why–
Enri’s shoulders drooped as she said, “Oh, you won’t talk? That’s a shame.”
“It’s only natural. Because my ‘Devour’ cannot be blocked, you know.”
“My ‘Body Enhancement’ is infused with magic power equivalent to an Emperor-class ‘Barrier Magic.’… No, it might be even stronger. So there’s no way it can’t prevent it. At the very least, it should be mitigated.”
“Hmm? No, that’s not it… Regardless of that, my ‘Devour’ cannot be stopped. Not by any magic or shield. If there are any exceptions, it would be the current ‘Hero’ or maybe that ‘Authority’.”
“I…don’t understand what you mean.”
I couldn’t comprehend it.
There’s no such thing as an attack spell that can’t be blocked by anything. If something like that existed, it would completely overturn the fundamentals of magical theory.
“Anyway, there’s something I wanted to ask you when we met again. Last time you were wearing weird glasses so I couldn’t really tell, but…your black eyes–“
Enri tried to ask me something as I stood there in confusion, but—
“–Lord Gluttony! Don’t pay attention to trash like him! Look at the ‘hearts’ I gathered! They’re the hearts of that scum and the brat lying over there. With these…I should be able to summon the evil god you spoke of!”
The black-robed boy cut off Enri’s words with a shout.
Enri abruptly switched to a serious expression from her grinning face and turned to the boy.
“Oh right, that’s what we were doing, wasn’t it. I totally forgot. …Yeah, I think this should work. You did great, didn’t you?”
“Of course, this much is only natural for me to offer Lord Gluttony, who gave me the chance for revenge! And for granting me such tremendous power, I can’t even express how grateful I am…!”
The boy made exaggerated expressions of gratitude as he held up the container filled with hearts for Enri to glance at.
“You really saved me there. Good work. Then—”
Enri reached her hand out towards the boy. Seeing this, the boy made an enraptured expression, as if expecting to be praised, but—
“You can die now. I don’t need you anymore.”
“What…?”
Enri grinned broadly and patted the boy’s shoulder. Then—
“Why…! When Lord Gluttony said the lord needed me—”
The boy’s head, arms, legs…his body parts started crumbling to pieces bit by bit.
“Yeah. I needed you back then, but…your role is over now, right? So you’re not needed anymore.”
“That’s…”
The boy made a despairing expression and reached out to Enri for help. But Enri didn’t take his hand, only watching him with cold eyes, as if looking at an insect.
“Now then, shall we continue our talk? About your eyes—”
Without even glancing at the boy’s remains that had crumbled into ash, Enri tried to resume the conversation just a few seconds later.
“Wasn’t he…your comrade?”
Ignoring Enri’s attempt to speak to me, I spat out words.
“He wasn’t a comrade. Just a stranger. Though it seems like that guy had somehow mistaken me for his lord or something…I just granted him a bit of power and made a simple request, that’s all. So frustrating, really.”
“He was still just a boy. No matter how strong a power you granted him, I can’t believe he’d suddenly be able to kill people without hesitation. …You did something to him, didn’t you?”
I questioned her with a slightly rougher tone.
Enri lifted the corners of her mouth into an amused expression and said “Ohh…yeah…”
“That’s right. I ate all his emotions except his malice and vengeful feelings, and amplified his malice as well. Because without doing that, people can’t act due to things like reason and such, right? …Aren’t I so kind?”
…As I thought, it seems she did something to him. Of course that would be the case. Normally, no matter how much hatred one harbored, they wouldn’t be able to kill people so cruelly. That was already…a demon in human skin.
I don’t know what she did to him. I have no interest in such things either. What that boy did is unforgivable, and this outcome is only natural.
Besides, it doesn’t concern me. He was a stranger, after all. Whether he lived or died is of no consequence.
…However.
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“More importantly, about your black eyes—”
“Shut up. This conversation is over.”
I spat out words in a firm tone.
“…Are you angry? Hmm, I don’t really get why you’re angry, but…whatever. It probably doesn’t matter, so I don’t need to ask.”
Enri shrugged her shoulders as if it couldn’t be helped and said “How disappointing.”
“So, what will you do? I’m gonna try summoning an evil god with these ‘hearts’, but…I can overlook it if you want to go home now. …And the girl over there too.”
Glancing briefly at Eve, who was desperately calling out to the corpses of the guards and students in prayer, Enri made that proposal.
“There’s no way I’d run away.”
“Oh, could they be important people to you? I didn’t do it, but…sorry about that.”
Enri brought her hands together apologetically in front of her chest, conveying remorse in a seemingly disingenuous manner.
…Important people to me? No, there’s not a single person who’s important to me. I only care about myself, a selfish person who only thinks of themselves.
“They’re not particularly important people or anything. I just taught them magic for a few days out of obligation. They’re just some people I’ll have nothing more to do with soon, they don’t matter.”
“I see—”
Cutting off Enri as she murmured disinterestedly,
“Yes, they were just some people who didn’t matter. Whether they died tragically or you manipulated that boy has no relevance whatsoever to my life. So this is…my personal emotion.”
I babbled on.
I don’t even understand myself what this strong feeling welling up from the pit of my stomach is.
“The thing is—”
They were existences that didn’t matter to me. Just nuisances imposed on me when I came to Magikosmaia and taught them some magic. In other words, they had no impact on my life whatsoever. I have no reason to be happy they died, nor to grieve or be angry about it.
…Therefore.
The only thing I feel right now is simply that—
“You piss me off. Immensely so.”
Just my arrogant, personal emotions and nothing more.
“You really are angry, aren’t you? Hmm, since I already apologized, I shouldn’t have to do it again…what to do…”
Hearing my words, Enri crossed her arms and started pondering.
“There’s nothing to think about, only one option. I won’t run, and you don’t seem intent on leaving either. Or rather, I won’t let you. You’re going to be my stress relief.”
“Fight me, you mean? I’d advise against that but…how exactly are you going to fight me?”
Enri furrowed her eyebrows as if troubled, looking at me like a spoiled child. How? Isn’t it obvious?
“Obviously, I’ll—”
I tried to gather magical power in my right hand to blast her with a magical shot, but—
“What the…I don’t have any magical power?”
For some reason, I couldn’t gather any magical power at all.
No matter how much I tried gathering power from inside my body, it was as if none existed there at all…as if there had never been any to begin with.
And trying to draw in magical power from the atmosphere was equally futile. What’s going on?
“Oh, you finally noticed? I was wondering how long it’d take you.”
“Did you do something?”
“Bingo! When I ‘ate’ your left arm earlier, I helped myself to all your internal magical power and the ambient magic in this space too. If I had to describe your magical power, it’s like a mellow, rich wine with a powerful bouquet. It was reaaally delicious. So addictive I might get hooked on it. Thanks for the meal?”
“What…?”
I didn’t understand what she meant.
Stealing the enemy’s magic power? The only spell I can think of is Absorption, but even that required continual contact, didn’t it? Taking all of my magical power in an instant like that…it’s impossible.
“In case you have the wrong idea, it’s not Absorption, okay? This is my Gluttony Authority – Predation. I told you it’s not magic or sorcery or a blessing, it’s an Authority only I can use as the one chosen by the Demon Lord of Gluttony after all…I’ve said it so many times already.”
Enri denied it with an exasperated look and sighed. Demon Lord? What is she talking about, I don’t understand any of this at all.
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