Chapter 255 – Erosion

“Didn’t everything come back?”

“Yes…”

“It’s ridiculous.”

Minji looked down as if she had no face… No, Marcella.
I clenched my tongue and leaned against the back of the sofa.
If all the five sent scouts did not return, it means that they died in the Pandemonium.

Five of them have my demonic energy in them.
There’s no way the demons wouldn’t notice it, but the fact that they used their hands was a premonition of a complete rebellion.
I vaguely knew it, but I still couldn’t believe it, but it’s even more annoying when it becomes clear.

“Where did you die?”

“The biosignals have gone off near Malpas’ residence…”

“Do you know how he died?”

“My body temperature spiked right before the signal went off. It’s probably burned to death…”

Burned to death?
Among the monsters with strong magic enough to rebel against me, who uses fire…
The first thing that comes to mind is Balrog.
He is also the one who turned Yuria’s parents into ash, a super-high-ranking monster in a similar position to Malphas.
He also had a disposition to revere power.

“Is it a balrog?”

“I think so too…”

Malphas had no such ability at all.
He’s just a guy who grants wishes.
Does that make it less likely that Malphas is a traitor?
No, he has to keep all the doors open. Malphas is too sinister to dismiss suspicion.
The gnome and the balrog could have concocted the incident.

“My back hurts. Sehwa, Yuria, and the doctor don’t have any prognostic symptoms, right?”

“Yes… They are the ones who belong to the demon king’s magical power… I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“Have you started the Aether cloning research?”

“Currently researching. Dr.’S help is great. He is the one who has perfect knowledge of Aether, Device, so I think he can pick up the pace.”

“I get it.”

I stretched out my thumb and middle finger and pressed down on my temples, then raised my eyebrows at Marcella’s words.

“Um… May I ask how Adaline-nim is going…?”

“If everything went according to my plan, Adele would be very angry right now. I’m thinking of putting some malice into it today. However, you need to be alert. As much as Adele is different from Sehwa or Yuria, I have no idea what will happen to him.”

“Okay…”

“The Demon Realm needs to be cleaned.”

Marcella took her fright.

“Cleaning means…”

“We’ll get rid of all the suspicious guys and see.”

“I’m sorry to tell you… You’re reconsidering that…”

Are you saying that you should show mercy to them?
Crumpled, I leaned forward and stroked Marcella’s cheek.
Then he gently grabbed her hair and pulled it to her side.

“Marcella.”

“Yes Yes?”

“Did you do that in the car last time? I feel like I’ve changed, I feel like I’ve become kinder. Didn’t you even say that you should show the insurgents a lesson?”

“…. That’s right…”

“But why are you here now? Have you any sympathy? Have you, by any chance, been affected by the divine power?”

“That, that’s absolutely not the case… I’m just… Out of a sense of old age that the Demon Realm might be in danger with the current state of the Demon King…”

I put my thumb up on Marcella’s soft lips.
Then, moving her thumb from side to side over her, she smeared her right tint over the corners of her mouth.

“That’s what you were worried about.”

“Yes… I only care about the comfort of the Demon King…”

“You’re a wonderful guy.”

“Oh, no…”

Ugh-!

I was looking at Marcella with relaxed eyes, and when I heard a vibration, I took out her cell phone and picked it up.

[I will sleep in that lab.]

It was Adele’s talk.
Judging by the fact that it was written as a notice… That means to come to me.
It seems that something happened with Sylvia.
Sleeping in the lab anyway? What if you enter the tiger’s mouth directly?
Well, where would you go if you were angry…

[I’ll be right there.]

[You don’t have to come.]

[Really?]

[(๑•﹏•) No.]

[I’ll leave right away. Shall we buy some snacks?]

[Yes. (｡♥‿♥｡)]

Fed up with cute emoticons, I got up from my seat.

“Go back to the base for now.”

“Yes… Maou-nim… I wish you success in erosion…”

“Okay.”

**

Adele snorted and inhaled the snack.
And then he mumbled to me.

“Really… I’m so mad! How can you show that attitude?”

After hearing the explanation of the situation, I sang a joyous joy in my heart.
Everything went according to my plan.

“I see… I’m disappointed too.”

Currently, I can’t stand up for Sylvia as usual.
While empathizing with Adele, he must develop hostility towards Sylvia.
Then erode the aether and fill the device. That’s it.

“And… I think you like Jihyeok.”

I know everything.
Let’s be a little ambiguous at this point.
Adele’s anger will rise more.

“Is that so?”

As expected, Adele challenged me with indignation.

“Is that so? Did you just say that!?”

“Yes…? That’s right… I like Sylvia-san too…”

“What!?”

Quaang!

Adele slapped both palms on the desk in the break room.
She woke up with a frown on her face.
Surprised, I hurriedly corrected my words.

“No, I meant that she likes it as a colleague.”

At those words, Adele’s demeanor softened a little.
She said, putting her hand on her waist.

“I mean, Sylvia unnie likes Jihyeok as her member of the opposite sex.”

“Ah… Are you sure?”

“Are you sure…? Are you questioning my intuition? Aha, now I understand.”

“What?”

“Sylvia was excited to touch her sister’s body, right? And is she in a good mood? Does a girl like her sister like her?”

Even the sarcasm… Perfect.
You are ready to fall

“Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep.”

“Is that useless!? Start by answering!”

“Adele.”

“Why!”

“What did I say yesterday… No, earlier in the lab?”

“… He said he only loved me.”

“Would this have been the answer?”

Adele’s head nodded her up and down once.
I, who gave her a bittersweet smile, argued with her.

“Did you like touching Sylvia’s body? How could you say that to me? You know how hard I’ve been…”

“I’m sorry… I was too excited…”

“I understand.”

“Sylvia is an idiot. How long has she been on Earth… She hasn’t even thought of meeting a man. Because of that, Jihyeok and I went through a hard time… No matter how much I accepted it, I regret it very much. I hate her sister.”

I hugged Adele in front of me.
Then her arm naturally wrapped around my neck.

“You’ll get better if you get a good night’s sleep.”

“…. Yes…”

In order to inject evil, you have to get out of the human body for a while.
That said, there’s a chance that Adele can sense Magi.
However, this wasn’t even a problem. The real problem is after putting malice into it.

I took Adele to her doctor’s lounge, covered her with a blanket, and removed the device from her wrist.
Adele, who was watching it quietly, asked.

“What about my device?”

“Since I came to the lab, I’m trying to increase her capacity. Did the doctor say that? The movements of the monsters are strange. We may have to keep fighting from now on… So we have to be prepared.”

“… I hate the doctor too. You seduced me with cunning words.”

Okay? That’s great.
I’d love to hear from Dr.

“Do you still understand the doctor’s heart?”

“That’s right… But are you going to do it now?”

“No. I’ll be here until Adele goes to bed.”

“Are you sleeping…? Won’t you sleep with me?”

“I don’t get much sleep. You will be sleepy while working. I’ll be back then.”

Adele gave a worried look.

“You made a mistake before…”

“After knowing how Adele felt, and receiving her comfort, I felt much better. If she thinks she’ll make a mistake, she’ll quit, so don’t worry.”

“If it’s hard…”

“If it’s hard, I’ll go straight to Adele.”

“Okay… Hold my hand.”

I smiled benevolently and took Adele’s hand.
Adele then closed her eyes, clutching the fox necklace I gave her.
People tend to sleep deeply when they are tired and have something to calm them down.
Adele was no different.
Please be patient and wait until I fall asleep.

**

Stab…

Aether moved calmly in front of my eyes, making clear bird calls.
I brought a device modification tool and entered a luxury hotel, swallowed my saliva and cut my finger.
A single drop of blood on my little finger, containing the malice that could be said to be my essence.
After transferring the blood to the micro dropper, I relaxed.

Adele’s erosion of Aether should be really careful.
It cannot even be compared to the time of Sehwa and Yuria.
The amount of malice is nano… Yoke… No, even smaller than quarks or leptons.
You have to put in an amount that is literally small enough that it doesn’t even stand out.

Just put it in once, and make it grow gradually through your relationship with Adele.
I break out in a cold sweat. I don’t know how long I’ve been so nervous.
I wiped my face with the palm of my hand as if I was washing my face, made up my mind and inserted the eyedropper into the tiny passage secretly made in the device.
Then, he controlled his malice and poured it out very little.
At that time,

Kiki-Ik-! Hey hey hey profit!

Aether let out an audible scream.
Malice begins to mix and it shows rejection.
I only put in malicious intent that could not be seen even under a microscope, but the reaction was more intense than that of Sehwa and Yuria.
It must have been because it was assimilated with divine power, right?

This fierce defiance was not unexpected.
I operated the remote control the size of a finger that I had placed next to me.
It was a sealing device made to control Sylvia and Adele.
As soon as the button was pressed, polymers protruding from the device without even making a sound bound the Aether.

What a profit! Squeak! Awesome!

Aether, which had let out a painful sound, soon became quiet except for the uppermost part, which was thought to be near the head.
He looked like a god sealed in a noose that could never be broken, so a smile naturally appeared on my lips.

‘Be quiet…’

After a while, Aether’s movements, which had been trembling slightly as if being tortured, stopped.
After a while, I carefully pressed the remote control to release the seal.
OK,

Whack… Whack… Whack… Sizzle…

Aether, gasping in pain, made another clear bird call.
Is it erosion? Or has it been purified?
After calming my pounding heart, I zoomed in on Aether.
Once, twice, three times, four times… And five times and more.
I moved my fingers dozens of times to enlarge the screen, then clenched my fists so tightly that my palms were pierced and bleeding.

‘Done!’

It was because the area around the edge of Aether had turned black.
Barely holding back the feeling of wanting to let out a cheer, I sealed Aether again so that he wouldn’t do anything stupid.
After that, I went to bed, forgot my face and laughed with my face down.

I still had work to do.
The last task is to put the device on Adele’s wrist.
This is the toughest part, but I didn’t have to worry too much.
The fact that Aether with divine power was eroded was also in line with the meaning of being safely assimilated with divine power.
Adele most likely won’t notice.
After this task is over, her heart will slowly turn evil.

To the point where Rosario shed bloody tears.