I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Chapter 102 : Plant devil (4)

Plant devil (4)

Four years ago, the Crown Prince Orbel, who had lost all his strength, fell into a loss so great that it nearly broke his mind.

His life had come to an end with the abrupt severing of his contract with the Great Devil, the very turning point of his existence.

Thanks to Saber's help, he had survived, but in truth, only his body remained alive.

Everything he had ever truly desired—strength and power—vanished in an instant.

Despair overtook the Crown Prince at the loss of his precious things, which disappeared like mayflies in a single day.

His body survived, but his spirit was as good as dead.

'If only I could make a pact with the Great Devil again...'

With the power he had once gained through the contract, he had already taken countless lives.

Having crossed the river of no return, he knew that everyone would come for his head once that power disappeared.

Now, in order to survive, the only way was to make the contract again.

'This is my last chance.'

Thus, the Crown Prince staked everything on this final opportunity.

If it became necessary, he was even prepared to ruthlessly abandon his only ally, Saber.

He would regain strength and become part of the royal family once more.

The Crown Prince had harbored the hope that he might achieve that goal.

And then...

[You fool! Did you not even know that there's a set number of times you can contract with Lord Great Devil?]

Despairing news was delivered.

"What... did you just say?"

When he heard the devil's unbelievable words, the Crown Prince doubted his ears.

'Surely, I misheard. It's definitely because I haven't cleaned my ears lately.'

He tried to rationalize with these thoughts as a barrier, but...

[Once you've made a contract, that's it. You can't contract with any other devil, either. Did you seriously throw everything into chaos just to make another contract?]

The devil burst out laughing, mocking the Crown Prince's situation.

Faced with this incomprehensible and nonsensical truth, the Crown Prince's self-defense shattered like glass.

"What is this...."

Losing focus in his eyes, the Crown Prince fell to his knees.

"All my plans up to now... has it all been pointless?"

Literally, everything had been in vain.

No matter what price he paid, there was no returning to how things were.

Even if he sacrificed everyone in the academy, there was nothing to be gained.

'Then what? Did Laika lie to me?'

The reason he had put this plan into action was because of Laika's arrival.

Laika had said there was a chance for him to regain his strength, so he had lain low.

The Crown Prince, duped by those sweet words, now felt deep anger.

"No... No... No, no, no, no, no, no!!!!"

Realizing that nothing was left for him, the Crown Prince beat the earth and screamed in despair.

Because he no longer possessed any strength, hitting the ground with his fists only hurt his own hands.

"Damn it!!"

He even began to weep bloody tears, unleashing a wail.

From the beginning, he could never have achieved his goal and had simply been thoroughly used.

Faced with that truth, the Crown Prince's will broke completely.

[This is far more entertaining than I expected.]

The devil listened to the Crown Prince's cries as if they were a song.

For devils, the agony and wailing of humans were as soothing as lullabies.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince!!"

At that moment, a girl ran toward the Crown Prince amidst the destroyed streets.

Elaine, one of the Sabers, deactivated her disguise she had used for covert academy enrollment as she ran.

Immediately, she transformed into her real form—a woman in her thirties.

"Your Highness! What has happened?"

"......"

Elaine, rushing over, checked the Crown Prince's condition.

Although his body was uninjured, his face was so hollow that she wondered if he was even human.

"What on earth happened?!"

The surroundings had turned into the devil realm, and there was a devil standing right in front of her.

The situation was completely opposite from what she'd heard, leaving Elaine confused.

Yet, even amid such chaos, her eyes were fixed on no one but the Crown Prince.

"Please, come to your senses! You must get up now!"

She put everything else aside and focused solely on the Crown Prince.

Such devotion was a trademark of all Sabers.

That was why the Crown Prince had been able to survive until now.

"Get lost."

"... Pardon?"

But the Crown Prince's demeanor was entirely different from usual.

Unlike his usual desperate struggle for life, he had given up on everything.

"I said I don't need you, so get lost."

"What are you saying! You have to get out of here if you want to survive—"

"I said I don't need you, you f***ing bastards!!!!"

Pshhk!-

At that moment, with a harsh scream, something pierced through Elaine's chest.

Having no strength, the Crown Prince always carried a small dagger for self-defense.

He had just stabbed Elaine in the chest with it.

"I said I don't need you anymore...! Why do you keep telling me what to do?!"

"Kh...! Your Highness...!"

Utterly shocked, Elaine could not comprehend why the Crown Prince had stabbed her—despite the pain in her chest.

In the end, the woman who had trusted and followed the Crown Prince all her life lost her life by his hand.

"Ahahahahahaha!!! Yes, I should have done this from the very start!"

Having now killed even his most loyal ally, the Crown Prince lost his mind and swung his sword at thin air.

His dance was clumsy and aimed at nothing, but the devil enjoyed the spectacle.

[Indeed, a sight not to be missed.]

The devil's job was to kill humans and use them as nourishment for the tree.

It was such an amusing scene that the devil almost forgot that duty.

Of course, the same went for Louis.

"He knows a little bit, doesn't he?"

But Louis had no intention of watching any longer.

"Hahaha! Die... Khaak!"

Louis struck the back of the frenzied Crown Prince's neck and subdued him instantly.

He then threw him inside the barrier and instructed his squad members:

"Don't kill him if you can help it. There's still a lot we need to learn from that guy."

This was a guy who'd even contracted with the Great Devil.

Louis intended to extract every last bit of information about the Great Devil from the Crown Prince's brain.

"And protect the citizens as best you can. That's our job."

The Emperor had granted the special task force immense authority in exchange for performing this duty.

Even if they didn't want to, the squad members had no choice but to accept.

"Understood. Then, Young Master?"

At Victor's question, Louis glanced at the towering tree and replied.

"First, I need to go dismantle that thing."

As Louis approached the tree, the devil blocked his way.

[Tear it down? Do you actually believe a wretch like you can destroy this infernal tree?]

As long as the devil stood in front of him, it would be impossible.

In response, Louis threw a punch.

Crack!-

[Huh?]

At that moment, the devil was bewildered to find his body staggering.

[M-My leg!!]

With one arm covered in the Chaos Dragon's scales, Louis's punch had sent the devil's leg flying.

"I'll count to three. Move. One..."

Louis, with only one arm clad in the Chaos Dragon's strength, mercilessly counted down.

[W-Wait!]

"Two..."

[There's no justice in this!]

"Three..."

[I have no leg—how am I supposed to move—]

Crack!-

The devil could not finish his sentence.

Louis's follow-up punch decapitated him on the spot.

****

Near the massive tree, a sword fight between Silia and Laika continued.

With swordmaster skills wielded by Laika, Silia found herself at a severe disadvantage.

She searched desperately for an opening but only accumulated more wounds.

In contrast, Laika was completely unscathed.

"You're quite a talent for a human. No wonder you're the adopted daughter of Andrew Weissman."

"Huff... Huff..."

The longer their swords crossed, the more exhausted Silia became.

As expected of the Imperial Court's hero, he was on a level she couldn't even approach.

Yet, this was an opponent she had to defeat, even if it killed her.

That was because this was no hero.

"This body is quite useful. Although it's old, it's possessed of fine swordsmanship."

Laika Bisted, the hero of the demonkin war.

His body had been taken over by the Great Devil Duramon.

"How long... has it been?"

"Hm?"

"How long have you possessed that man's body?"

When Silia asked, Duramon—possessing Laika's body—smiled as he answered.

"I feel like I'm telling you too much, but I'll make an exception."

He first possessed Laika's body when Laika killed the leader of the demonkin.

At the time, Duramon's remnant thought, which was possessing the leader, transferred to Laika.

At first, unable to adapt to the new body, he rampaged and attacked the nearby group.

If Ferus, one of the group, hadn't activated a spell at that time, there would have been casualties.

That spell posed a real threat to Duramon.

The possession chain put a heavy burden on him, making it necessary to keep his distance from it.

But perhaps due to that rampage, everyone in the group began to view Laika with suspicion.

As they all had established their reputations as war heroes, keeping an eye on Laika was easy.

If he continued like that, he would be hindered by spells again.

Thus, Duramon created a family under Laika's name and disappeared from the Imperial Court.

'A family founded by a devil—it only makes sense for them to worship devils.'

However, Duramon now had no power as a Great Devil.

To recover that strength, he needed sacrifices—countless human beings.

Hence, he approached the Crown Prince to use him as a tool for regaining power.

"That idiot was hoping to contract with the Great Devil again, but he was perfect as a stepping stone for my plan."

"So, you used the Crown Prince's plan?"

But as was apparent, the plan had failed.

In the end, Duramon could not regain his original strength.

"This body isn't so bad, but human swordsmanship doesn't suit me. I have no idea how to use it. Besides, the body itself isn't in its prime anymore."

Had those handicaps not existed, Silia would have died long ago.

Realizing that she had only survived because he wasn't at full power, Silia was shocked.

"I failed to regain my power and I couldn't even recoup the loss. I couldn't let it end like this, so I summoned my old friend."

"A friend?"

That meant another Great Devil like Duramon.

"He can't speak yet, since he was just resurrected."

As he spoke, Duramon pointed toward the giant tree.

"So that's...?"

The tree, reminiscent of a corrupted World Tree, struck terror into Silia's heart.

"Indeed. My friend's name is Wigmon."

"Then the seed planted in this land...!"

"That's the degenerated Wigmon. He's just been revived, so he's lost his original strength as well."

From the giant tree known as Wigmon, holes opened up at random intervals.

Devils began pouring out from them, descending into the world.

"Two Great devils...!"

Although both had lost their power, they were still monsters that Silia couldn't hope to oppose.

"That one borrowed a gift from me. But being sealed in that seed state, I could never meet him again. That's why I awoke him—to at least get that back."

[%$@!$!%]

Just then, a mysterious voice echoed from the giant tree.

It sounded like gibberish, but Duramon calmly responded.

"Hm? You can speak now? Humans probably can't understand you, though."

[@$@!%^^!!!!]

"Hungry? Don't worry—I won't interfere."

Suddenly, the tree's form began to mutate.

A humanoid face protruded from the center, and massive vine-like tentacles extended from its branches.

[!$$@! I...!@!@ I....@!!@$ I am...!@!]

At the same time, it began babbling in a language close to human speech, growing rapidly.

[@I... I am....]

At that grotesque face, just as it was about to utter a complete word—

[I am...!]

"I am Groot!!"

Suddenly, Louis leapt in and kicked the tree.

With the power of the Chaos Dragon's scales on his leg, the face was utterly destroyed.

"Huh?"

For the first time, Duramon's face froze at the sight.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Not the "I am Groot!" line...

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】