407 Chapter 407

While I was repeatedly using [Gaze of Command] despite coughing up blood, it happened.

"Stop it, Ash! Please!" 

From behind me, where she had collapsed, Salome cried out with tears in her voice.

"You have a wish, right? The small wish to pass on words of encouragement to that child!"

"..."

"Are you going to give up on that wish and die here?!"

I chuckled faintly.

"...My wish has changed."

"What?"

"You said it, Salome. When the essence changes, the goal changes too. That's right. My wish has already changed."

Salome was right.

I changed since coming to this world. Naturally, my wish from before would also change.

Initially, my wish was simple.

To save that one child.

But as I fought alongside many people in this world, my wish gradually transformed.

What I desire now is... to save people within my reach.

Wider, more extensive.

To save everyone I can. That is my wish.

Therefore, to save more people, I must kill this plague... Raven, here in this place.

"Salome. I doubted you. I thought you, a monster, could never truly care for me."

I smiled and nodded at Salome.

"But you risked your life to fight for me. Now, I trust you."

"Ash..."

"You're the only one who has seen my past. You're the only one I can entrust my last wish to."

I calmly requested Salome, who was looking at me with trembling eyes.

"Escape this place through [Reality Escape]. And then, cooperate with the people of Crossroad."

Her unique escape technique, [Reality Escape], should allow her to escape this plague-infested hell.

Being a spiritual entity, she could also recover her physical injuries in the spirit realm.

Having worked so hard for me, I can trust and rely on her to assist the people of Crossroad.

"And someday, when the people of Crossroad defeat the Demon King and this world reaches the true ending..."

It will be a long and arduous journey.

But if those who inherit my flag ultimately succeed,

"Please fulfill my first wish in my stead. Convey my words of encouragement to that child."

I grinned.

"The words of encouragement I wanted to give to that child were..."

I couldn't finish my sentence.

Suddenly, Salome rushed forward and embraced me head-on.

Her slender arms wrapped around my neck, and her rosy lips drew closer, eventually meeting mine.

'Huh?'

That is to say.

Salome kissed me.

Overwhelmed by the soft, tender touch of her lips, I froze for a moment, and then...

Swoosh!

Salome suddenly sucked on my lips.

That's when I realized. This rascal, is she doing it now?!

'Essence Drain?'

The succubi's energy absorption skill - [Essence Drain], disguised as a kiss! What kind of madness is this in such a situation, you damned succubus?!

But it was too late; the skill had already been activated, and I felt the last bit of my strength being completely drained by Salome... This, this is insane...

"Pfft!"

After the long kiss, Salome detached her lips, grinning like a man who just downed a great shot of liquor.

"Kyah! Perfect! Wow~ That was incredibly tasty. Ash, you're quite sweet, huh? Thanks to you, I'm fully recovered!"

"You, you... damn succubus..."

Drained of strength, I kneeled weakly on the ground, shaking with anger.

"Essence Drain at a time like this, what were you thinking..."

"Hehe, such foolish talk. A succubus always targets the victim's lips, you know?"

Salome, with a triumphant expression, crossed her arms and declared confidently.

"From the beginning, my target was always your lips!"

Now that I think about it, even when we first met, she directly aimed for my lips...!

Unable to properly control my body, I laughed helplessly.

At the very end, whether I should be angry about being backstabbed, or... or for having my first kiss stolen by this succubus, I really can't tell...

To me, Salome showed a cheeky smile.

"Ash. You should deliver the words of encouragement to that child yourself."

"What...?"

"I don't understand the human heart. I can steal, seize, and devour hearts, but only mimic their ways. I don't understand why and how they move."

Why is it that, even though she claims not to understand human hearts, Salome's face, as she looks at me, appears more human than anyone else's?

"I can't comprehend your wish. Therefore, I cannot act as your proxy. What you hold is too delicate and precious for me to carry on your behalf."

"..."

"Deliver it yourself. Carry your flag, walk till the end, and then, at that final point... deliver it yourself."

Your heart.

Your wish, deliver it.

After saying this, Salome reached out her hands and grabbed me. Immediately, her horns and tail began to shine brightly.

"Salome? What are you doing..."

"Even though you've lost your way and fallen into this darkness, I know. You are a person who won't give up even if you lose your way. You are the one who always forges the path ahead."

I felt my body begin to float.

Panicked, I looked down at my body, and where Salome's hands touched, my body was turning transparent.

Is this, perhaps...?!

"Since you've realized your wish. Since you've reclaimed your flag. I'm sure you'll definitely find out who you truly are."

"Salome, wait a moment...!"

"You will find the way, no matter what darkness envelops you."

[Reality Escape].

The unique technique of succubi to directly escape into the spirit realm – the other side of reality.

Salome used it not on herself, but on me.

"Darkness is gathering outside. If you stay here, even if you defeat Raven, it'll be hard to escape alive. This is the only way."

Salome's clear laughter tickled my ears.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of Raven. You just focus on finding yourself."

As I tried to speak, Salome placed her finger over my lips.

Leaning close to me, she whispered softly.

"Lastly, I'll tell you a 'secret' I discovered while looking into your soul."

"...?"

"What you are, in fact, is-..."

Hearing her entire whisper, I widened my eyes in shock.

"What do you mean...?"

Before I could ask further, it was too late.

My body transformed into a spirit, and just like when I fell through the teleport gate, I was sucked into the beyond.

"Salome, wai...!"

"Goodbye, my prince."

The last thing I saw was the Succubus Queen waving at me.

"I might have mocked your small wish, but in truth, I might have fallen for you because of that very wish."

With a face that was both smiling and crying.

"...I'll be rooting for you too."

With those words,

"Take care."

I felt like my whole body was being swept away in a torrent.

Splash...!

I plunged into the pitch-black darkness...

Sinking into the beyond.

***

Ash had disappeared.

Salome collapsed weakly onto the ground.

By using [Reality Escape], Salome had exhausted her very last bit of strength.

Not only the energy absorbed from Ash, but also the final reserve she had stored within herself, all of it was completely exhausted.

Struggling to breathe heavily, Salome whispered weakly as Raven slowly approached her.

"I didn't want to part ways."

Salome murmured powerlessly.

"I wanted to stay by your side. Even if scolded or harshly spoken to, still, I wanted to stay... right beside you."

"..."

"If this was a dream world, could I have... loved that person?"

Salome gripped her chest tightly with her hand.

"It hurts. As if the middle of my heart has been carved out, it hurts."

"..."

"Just the thought of never seeing him again... it hurts."

Raven sneered.

"Is that all you've gained for the price of your life, Salome? How foolish."

"...You're the one who doesn't understand, Raven."

Between her disheveled pink hair, Salome's eyes were clouded with faint moisture.

"This pain, this is what I've been searching for all my life."

Raven, deeming further listening unnecessary, summoned his plague aura.

"It's all futile, Salome. You, him, you'll both perish unable to overcome my plague!"

Raven was confident of victory.

The only means left to kill him at this place was Ash's [Gaze of Command].

But Salome, not wanting to witness Ash's death, sent him to the spirit realm.

Now, all that remained was a succubus drained of all strength.

Ash and Salome, both were already infected. Left alone, both would eventually succumb to the plague.

"As long as my ego, my obsession, my malice persists! My plague will not vanish. You have failed to defeat me. This time, the world will succumb to the plague...!"

"...Forgot so soon, Raven?"

To Raven, who was confidently declaring victory, Salome faintly smiled.

"Eating 'hearts' is a succubus's job."

Slowly extending her hand forward, she touched Raven's misty form.

Raven's mist-made body jerked significantly.

It felt as if something cold and sinister was piercing into his non-existent chest.

"What is this...?"

"If the evil, your 'heart', is what moves this plague of yours..."

Salome clenched her hand in the air.

"Then, it's simply my prey."

"...!"

Salome had grasped Raven's 'heart'.

She began to absorb it with her succubus powers.

Raven was rotten to his very core. He was tainted and decayed with profound malice.

Forcibly absorbing it, Salome's body immediately reacted.

Blood dripped from her pale lips, and her white skin started to discolor.

"Stop... stop it..."

Fear was evident in Raven's voice, an emotion never shown before.

He had neither body nor soul.

Merely a plague sustained solely by pure evil, Raven felt his existence being obliterated. He screamed in terror.

"Stop! You'll die too, Salome! My malice, my corruption, you can't handle it!"

"..."

"I am the essence of the plague itself! If you absorb me, you, a spiritual entity, will be tainted! You'll experience the most terrible pain imaginable!"

"It's okay."

Salome smiled calmly as she endured the excruciating pain that came with the absorption.

"I've experienced love."

Salome didn't understand love.

Even up to this moment of facing death, she couldn't define it precisely.

But one thing was certain.

This ache in her heart.

The void as if something essential was ripped out.

This pain, this emptiness, this sense of loss - they were undeniable proofs that love had once resided in her heart.

This act of dying for someone else... was the true proof of love.

Even amidst the burning pain of her physical body, Salome smiled brightly.

It didn't hurt at all.

Compared to the pain engraved in her heart,

Compared to this vivid, first love.

At the end of a long, agonizing scream, Raven's cries subsided.

Having absorbed all of Raven's malice, Salome leaned against the collapsed stone wall.

Gazing into the void, she slowly opened her mouth and recited lines from a play she had seen in Ash's memories, one that shared her name.

I have kissed thy mouth.

I kissed your lips.

There was a bitter taste on thy lips.

There was a bitter taste on your lips.

Was it the taste of blood?

Was that the taste of blood?

Nay; but perchance it was the taste of love.

No, perhaps it was the taste of love.

They say that love hath a bitter taste.

They say love tastes bitter.

But what matter? what matter?

But what does it matter? What does it really matter?

I have kissed thy mouth.

I have kissed your lips...

"...I'm not as skilled as you."

A shy smile appeared on Salome's blood-soaked lips.

"Thank you, Ash."

Then, she slowly closed her eyes.

"For teaching me... about love."

In the fading consciousness, Salome wished for the last time.

If, just if,

She could dream a happy dream, not a nightmare, next.

She wished to dream of loving that man...

***

Salome experienced love.

Painful, yet so brilliant.