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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Apostle of the Dream Demon (3)
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Ichika blinked, unable to comprehend the situation unfolding before her.
"…Huh?"
It couldn't be helped.
Two people she thought were the same person were standing and fighting.
No, could this even be called a fight?
No.
It was closer to a one-sided assault than a battle.
*Boom!*
*Boooooom!*
The Incubus barely managed to hold on, somehow squeezing out pink demonic energy to create explosions in the surrounding area.
But it seemed like only a matter of time.
*Whoosh—*
The man appeared suddenly, not a speck of dust on him despite the massive explosions, and carelessly swung his sword down.
*Slice—*
*Thwack!*
His sword accurately slashed the Incubus's neck,
but the pink demonic energy prevented it from being completely severed.
The man frowned, as if displeased.
"…For a demon, your life force is unnecessarily tenacious. Like a cockroach."
He wasn't dead, but that was all.
Blood gushed from his neck like a fountain.
"Keheheheheheck!!! Guwaaaaaah!!!"
The Incubus, who had originally resorted to all sorts of vile deeds to manipulate her.
Clutching his neck, he sobbed and sniveled, his handsome face contorted beyond recognition.
"…What's going on?"
Ichika muttered to herself, still unable to accept the current situation.
— Ichika! I told you! The Dream Demon is dying!!
A small shadow approached her side.
"…Why are there two Dream Demons?"
Ichika pointed to where the fight was happening and questioned the shadow.
The shadow squirmed impatiently and shouted,
— You dense idiot! Fool! That man isn't the Dream Demon!!
"…What?"
— He's not the Dream Demon, he's someone else! He's here to save you!
"…Eh?"
At the shadow's words, Ichika's body instantly froze stiff, as if time had stopped.
*
A moment passed as she processed the situation.
Ichika, who had been tilting her head, twisted her expressionless face into a strange grimace.
"…You should have told me."
She whipped her head around and spoke to the shadow, as if chiding it.
— We did!!!
— That's right! That's right! We kept telling you!
— You were muttering about wanting to see a handsome man who wasn't a Dream Demon, so we deliberately brought him from far away!
— But you wouldn't listen to us!!!
— Wouldn't listen!!!
Ichika bit her lip tightly.
Then her body trembled, and she—
*Thud!*
Slammed her head onto the floor.
'…Such a mistake.'
It seemed to be the aftermath of being tormented by the Dream Demon day and night, pushing her mind to its limits.
She had truly made an unbelievable blunder.
That man, who had come to save her.
She had treated him like an Incubus, and what else had she said…?
The dizzying situation from moments ago replayed in her mind.
— You trash. You did this to me, and now you're pretending you don't know? After making me crave carnal desires.
— Ahh, that concept. You corrupt my body like this, and then you pretend to be an innocent man. So you're trying to shame me now. As expected, a filthy Incubus.
— *Tsk*, but you're even more disgusting today… Did you go work out or something?
And while saying that.
*Poke, poke…*
*Fiddle, fiddle…*
*Squish, squish…*
'Ah.'
*Boom!*
A massive firework exploded in her mind.
No, in reality, it was the sound of the Dream Demon unleashing his demonic energy in a final desperate struggle.
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
*Thud!*
Ichika repeatedly slammed her head onto the floor with an expressionless face.
Blood flowed from her forehead, but she felt no such pain.
'…Let me die.'
Just,
she felt ashamed.
Ashamed enough to want to die right then and there.
But how could she die without even knowing the identity of the benefactor who had come to save her?
Ichika, who had been writhing in shame with her head slammed against the floor, suddenly lifted her head.
— What, what's wrong! Ichika!? Are you okay!?
— Your head is bleeding!!!
— A-Are you doing this because you want to stay with us!?
The shadows fussed beside her, but she ignored them and asked,
"…Do you happen to know how that person came here?"
— Hmm, we don't really know either!
— He said he got a request earlier!
— That's right! He said it earlier! He said he got a request from Ichika!
'A request…? From me…?'
Ichika, who had been tilting her head, suddenly widened her eyes.
* * *
After the sudden outbreak of the anomalous phenomenon known as Gates in their peaceful everyday lives.
The entirety of Japan was shrouded in darkness.
In neighboring Korea, an anomaly named Lina, a genius beyond her century, had appeared,
but Japan, unable to do the same, suffered immense damage.
Amidst such chaos, Ichika awakened the ability to hear the voices of the dead.
People dying in agony every day. Their voices, heard ceaselessly.
At first, she had resisted the ability, but eventually she accepted it.
To become a priestess who listened to and honored the stories of the vengeful spirits.
Because she believed this was the mission the world had bestowed upon her.
Therefore, she headed to Aokigahara Forest, where the most deaths occurred.
How long had it been since she began listening to and comforting the vengeful spirits daily in that ominous, uninhabited forest?
One day, she suddenly began hearing hallucinations.
At first, she thought it was the mischievous antics of a young ghost.
But lo and behold, it was the doing of a man.
She could have driven him away then if she had wanted to.
However, with the thought that worldly affairs should be left to the worldly, she had requested help from the Japan Hunter Management Bureau.
Anonymously, so her identity wouldn't be revealed and cause trouble.
However, despite spending all the money she had on hand, perhaps the reward wasn't satisfactory,
or perhaps it was due to the ominous image of this forest.
Even though she had placed the request a long time ago, there had been no news from the Japan Hunter Management Bureau.
So, unable to bear it any longer, she tried to step forward and deal with the man herself.
But by then, his scheme had already progressed to a certain extent.
Though she had belatedly realized this fact and was barely holding on day by day, resisting with the power she had cultivated here,
honestly, the power of a demon, an Incubus, was too much for her to handle alone.
Trapped like a bug caught in a spiderweb, unable to move forward or back.
Slowly becoming addicted to the insidious demonic energy.
Played by the vile and dreadful Incubus's tricks.
She thought it was the end.
That she would live trapped in a terrible hell for the rest of her life, unable to tell anyone, unable to die.
She truly thought that.
'A miracle… has arrived.'
The man who came, hearing her screams that no one else had heard.
Her savior.
The Dream Demon, now breathing shallowly, perhaps having exhausted all his demonic energy.
And the man, raising his sword that reflected a blue light, standing before him.
*Zing—*
A shiver ran down Ichika's spine.
She gazed at the man's back with blurred eyes.
And at that moment.
*Gush.*
An uncontrollable impulse burst forth within Ichika.
She sprang to her feet.
*Thump-thump!*
She rushed towards that broad back before her.
And then.
*Squeeze—*
She hugged his back as if to break it.
At that, the Dream Demon, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly lifted his head and brightened up.
"I-Ichika!! My, my lovely mate!! Y-You've come to save me! Me!!!"
As if.
Not a single thought about that trash remained in Ichika's mind now.
She merely.
"Thank you… Thank you. Thank you."
Expressed her gratitude to him, her voice mixed with tears.
"…Huh?"
Jin Yuha turned his head, seemingly flustered by the sudden embrace.
"Thank you so much for coming to save me. If it weren't for you, I would be…"
Ichika rambled on with her words of thanks, but.
"Uh, excuse me for a moment. Hmm, could I deal with this guy first? And then hear your story?"
"Ah."
At Jin Yuha's words, Ichika's face turned red like a ripe persimmon.
She hadn't even fully dealt with the Incubus yet, but her emotions had gotten ahead of her, leading to another mistake.
She hastily nodded.
"Okay. Understood."
Ichika then tried to pull away from Jin Yuha.
However.
*Stroke.*
"?"
*Fiddle.*
*Fiddle.*
"…?"
*Squish.*
*Squish.*
"…Excuse me?"
Ichika's hands were busy exploring Jin Yuha's chest and abs, which she was embracing from behind.
"…Ex-cuse me?"
"*Tsk*. Yes."
"C-Could you move your hands…?"
"Yes. Why is this… Ah, I understand. I'll let go now."
But even as she said she understood, her body clung tightly to Jin Yuha, showing no intention of letting go.
Her hands, stroking him as if in affection, were an added bonus.
And the eyes of the demon, Suzuki Satoru, who was kneeling before Jin Yuha like a defeated dog, trembled uncontrollably.
"…I-Ichika?"
The scene he was witnessing.
"H-How could you."
Ichika, whose blushing face and loving eyes he had yearned to see for so long but never could,
"How could you do this to me?"
was now before him.
"How, how could you do this to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
A terrible shriek, as if tearing at the soul, echoed throughout Aokigahara Forest.