“Stop….!! Don’t come near me…!! Why… Why does it have to be me!!”
Eric shrieked in despair, but nobody heard him.
He wanted to go somewhere else with more people, but everytime he tried to change direction and head to a wider street, the monster would be there ahead of him.
It was like he was being unnaturally led, no, shepherded, down to the darkest roads, but he didn’t have the leeway to wonder about it.
The monster was right at his heels.
He could see the figure of the monster at the edge of his field of vision even without turning around.
The black sticky shadow stretched its hand towards Eric, and it seemed as if it could grab him any moment.
As for the size, it was almost as big as Eric.
The upper part was similar to a human’s head, and it also had two arms and two legs. It could pass as a human if seen from afar, but the collapsing outline was the dead giveaway that it was obviously something supernatural.
The shadow took on the shape of a good-for-nothing human.
It relentlessly chased Eric as it headed to the unknown.
“What the heck!! Why are you targeting me!! T-Tell me what I did wrong!!”
Eric couldn’t stop his feet from moving, so he yelled as he desperately ran.
“N-No way, is that him! Did the Incompetent God did this!? Because I scolded Nor…!?”
Did he send this monster after me as revenge — as punishment just because of that?
Come to think of it, this monster did look a lot like him.
The outline of the Incompetent God was more defined, but the bottomles dark shade was the same.
Chills ran down his spine, and goosebumps rose up on his skin as he recalled the last words uttered by the Incompetent God with that frosty voice of his amidst the darkness that was about to swallow Eric.
“Y-You’re just taking it out on me!! You’re being unreasonable!! I didn’t do anything wrong!! It’s Nor — Nor is the one at fault here, and I just did that for Amalda!!”
Yes, everything was for Amalda.
It was to protect that pure, tender-hearted girl.
Eleanor was to blame for taking advantage of Amalda’s innocence, and trying to push the Incompetent God to that pure girl.
“Actually, I had been troubled.”
The image of Amalda smiling at Eric while saying that flashed to the guy’s mind.
He was the only one she confided in.
Everyone else was just a nuisance to Amalda.
In that case, Eric had to do something about it in behalf of Amalda, who couldn’t refuse out of the goodness of her heart.
Only him — it was only Eric who knew Amalda’s true thoughts.
“It’s for Amalda!! I protected Amalda!! Only I — it’s only me who can — Amalda —”
His shrieks had been cut off mid sentence.
The monster caught up, and he had been driven into a corner.
The place he had been chased to the backyard of a magnificent, luxurious mansion.
The overgrown trees had abruptly cut off into a clearing, and the sun was shining down here brightly.
He saw someone chatting and laughing by the bright window illuminated by the sun rays.
“ — That young master isn’t here today, huh.”
The person smirking smugly while talking to her was no other than the young priest who ‘troubled’ her.
That figure who laughed at his words — he knew perfectly who she was even if her back was turned to the window.
Amalda tenderly and innocently smiled at the priest as her flaxen hair swayed.
The monster was right behind Eric now.
He could hear its squelching footsteps as it drew even more closer to him.
However, he remained stupefied, unable to move a single finger.
Other than the words of Amalda and that priest, everything else was blank in his mind.
“That young master” — they were talking about him — “That’s not true at all~” — Amalda laughed it off.
“Even though I’m with Granverite-sama, he kept on coming at me, saying that it’s fine.”
It was the smile that she had shown Eric not so long ago, as if he was the only she could confide in.
“— The truth is, I was troubled.”
Goo oozed out from the fingertips of Eric, who had been standing stock still.
The shadow beneath his feet turned darker as it settled down before forming sticky, undulating waves.
His mind was on the verge of collapse, filled with chaos, shaking violently as darkness permeated all his thoughts.
‘Why…’
Squelch.
He couldn’t stop the overflowing darkness within him.
‘Why, Amalda… it’s me, only me…’
“A..mal…da…s-sa..ma…on..ly…me….”
The monster behind him also let out a sound, as if in sync with Eric’s thoughts.
It had the same voice as the priest who also circled Amalda in the past, but Eric didn’t knew that.
And he probably wouldn’t know even throughout all eternity.
“I-It was su-supposed…to…be… only…me…….”
With a muffled sound, the monster behind him suddenly stretched, growing larger by the second, breaking off its vague outline.
It swallowed Eric in his entirety, including the filth that was oozing out of him — as if absorbing him.
“…………………..?”
“Is something the matter, Amalda-sama?”
Amalda had subconsciously turned to look at the window behind her, so the priest who had been chatting with her asked.
“No.”
She shook her head in response before tilting her head slightly.
“I just thought I heard something. Ah, but it seems it’s just my imagination.”
It was bright outside the window, and nothing could be seen other than the trees that a little bit farther away.
The trees gently swayed in the breeze. Amalda glanced at the wriggling shadows, before shaking her head.
“Maybe it was the sound of the wind. I’m sorry, I was bothered for a bit.” “Perhaps it’s a wind sprite that wanted to attract Amalda-sama’s attention. You can even steal the heart of a spirit, I’m getting really jealous now.”
Amalda giggled at the priest’s words, which didn’t sound as if he was joking at all.
It was an uneventful afternoon in the Shrine — peaceful and lovely.
Behind the girl lounging on the sofa without a care in the world was —
***
End of Volume 4.
Hi everyone, Hanazakura here, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Hungry for more? Great news! You can read 5 chapters in advance for as low as $3 at . Early access reading (per chapter) is also available now at Foxaholic 18 ! Schedule for this novel is two free chapters per week. 🙂\n