Chapter 309: Dekan Is About to Ensnare the Entire Hospital in His Clutches |
Listening to Dekan's increasingly unhinged laughter --the little nurse felt a chill crawl down her spine and wanted nothing more than to be as far away as possible.
She had a feeling this creature was scheming something truly horrifying...
Staying by his side, she wouldn't have enough lives to spare!
Especially someone as weak as her.
"Can I... go now?"
The little nurse asked timidly.
He seemed to be done with his questions.
A supreme-tier demon like this should keep his word, right?
And yet, Dekan merely looked at the little nurse with a deeply meaningful smile.
But now -- he needed an assistant.
Or more precisely, a tireless pack mule who could work dozens of consecutive hours without collapsing.
This diligent, uncomplaining little nurse who wasn't lacking in brains was clearly an excellent candidate.
"Act like a person, would you..."
Shijiang had obviously seen through what Dekan was planning.
This little nurse might not get the full Bachel-from-the-Cooking-Classroom treatment.
But it probably wasn't going to be much better.
"Are you pitying her?"
Dekan asked Shijiang mentally.
Shijiang: "No. What you're doing is completely fine."
Even if this little nurse hadn't provoked Dekan --it was the same as in the very first Shadow World, when Dekan and Cornelia had grabbed a random demon student off the road and sent them to be fed to Bachel. That cannon-fodder demon hadn't done anything wrong either -- they were simply cast in the role of the enemy.
Dekan was also clear-headed about this. This was the Shadow World. Everything here was merely a historical projection. As a challenger, his top priority was achieving his own objectives.
Just as Dekan prepared to open his mouth and manipulate the little nurse --
"Manipulating her probably won't work."
Shijiang suddenly spoke into Dekan's mind.
"How would you know? Did you know her before?"
Dekan had been getting a vague sense for a while now that Shijiang felt a twinge of sympathy for this little nurse.
Normally, that wasn't like Shijiang at all.
Could this little nurse be an old acquaintance of Shijiang's?
"I just have a feeling you won't be able to fool her with your usual tricks. She seems different from ordinary demons, but what exactly she..."
Shijiang appeared to be straining to recall something, yet couldn't find any memory related to the little nurse, Eve.
It was all just... a feeling.
"..."
Dekan suddenly felt the situation had become rather tricky.
If Eve truly was an old acquaintance of Talomati's, she might be a key figure for recovering Shijiang's lost memories.
"Go with your own judgment. Even if you encounter me, don't hold back."
Shijiang didn't want potentially inaccurate information interfering with Dekan's decisions.
"Obviously."
Dekan replied through thought.
Even if he encountered Talomati, he'd put on a live performance of turning against his own master right then and there!
He wouldn't go soft. Not him.
After a brief silence, Dekan finally looked at the little nurse and asked:
"Do you want Devil Points?"
"Huh?"
The little nurse was taken aback by his abrupt question.
"I can help you earn over ten thousand Devil Points in no time."
Dekan elaborated.
"What... are you talking about?"
The little nurse asked blankly.
"Be my assistant. In one week, you'll earn at least ten thousand Devil Points."
Dekan stood up, his fingertip pointing lightly at the little nurse. Every word came out with deliberate, measured weight.
After confirming she had heard correctly, the little nurse was certain Dekan hadn't misspoken.
Ten thousand Devil Points in a week?
What kind of nonsense was that?
A number like that was beyond anything she could even comprehend, even in her dreams...
"You're... lying to me, aren't you?"
Despite being incredibly tempted the moment she heard it --
the little nurse's guard instantly shot up!
She didn't doubt whether this demon could actually pull it off, but she was sure that even if he could, there would be a proportionally terrifying price to pay!
This great demon had apparently zeroed in on the deepest, most stubborn desire in her heart and was now openly dangling it as bait!
"Whether I'm lying, I can prove it to you in one hour."
Dekan walked halfway around his desk, perched himself on the edge, and propped his chin on one black-gloved hand. He spoke with a supremely confident smile.
"After all, in the next hour, you'd be lucky to earn a fraction of a Devil Point running off to some other department, right? But stay with me, and forget the twenty points you just earned without lifting a finger -- you might even make over a hundred in a single hour. Don't you want to give it a try? You've got nothing to lose."
Dekan continued to dangle the bait.
This little nurse's desire was far too transparent.
No matter how mature her thinking, no matter how strong her willpower --once Dekan found a crack in someone's heart, he could slowly reel them in, eroding their defenses bit by bit.
The little nurse's throat bobbed with a hard swallow.
She was genuinely wavering.
After agonizing for a moment --
"No, forget it. Please just let me go."
The little nurse shook her head with remarkable composure.
Not easily surrendering to her own desires was another of the secrets that had kept her alive this long.
"...?"
The little nurse's refusal left Dekan mildly surprised.
He was confident he had correctly identified what she wanted most.
And her obsession with Devil Points ran extraordinarily deep -- deep enough that she'd willingly work herself half to death with overtime.
Yet she had turned him down without a shred of hesitation.
This was unlike any demon Dekan had ever bewitched.
Could Shijiang really have known Eve?
Was that how she had understood, or perhaps immediately recognized, Eve's true nature?
"Why do I get the feeling you're more like a human than a demon?"
Dekan narrowed his eyes, his tone questioning.
Compared to every other demon he'd encountered, this little nurse most closely resembled Ice Snow Princess's counterpart, Artis.
"That's impossible! If my bloodline were even slightly impure, I'd never have been allowed to work at a Demon Realm hospital during wartime!"
The little nurse hastily raised her demon bracelet, pointing at it to prove her innocence.
The hospital regulations did indeed contain the clause the little nurse cited.
In a strategic facility like this, wartime protocol demanded absolutely zero moles.
Every Demon Realm traitor to date had primarily been a mixed-blood demon carrying other bloodlines. Such hybrids could occasionally develop emotions entirely foreign to pureblooded demons.
And pure demons were creatures fundamentally incapable of understanding guilt or remorse. Malice and desire were the instincts that drove their every action. Even if a demon did betray its own kind for amusement, no demon would ever genuinely want to help humans -- unless their mind was completely and utterly broken.
And Delois, being a pure-blooded demon, was the only way he could pass the hospital's screening.
The Shadow World had then swapped him out for Dekan.
"Interesting..."
Dekan stared at the little nurse as though he'd discovered a rare specimen.
Where Delois sought to understand humans, Dekan was more interested in understanding demons -- creatures that could no longer be found in the present world.
He wanted to dispel the misconceptions everyone in the present world had about him, so they'd stop thinking he was like a demon.
He personally thought there was absolutely nothing wrong with him, yet somehow everyone else seemed to think there was.
That meant everyone's perceptions were skewed.
So Dekan needed to rigorously, academically distinguish between humans and demons. Only then could he prove to the world that he was perfectly, indisputably normal.
He had already decided on his graduation thesis topic.
He would approach it from the angle of demons versus humans.
He even aspired to compile a Demonology textbook that would educate the general public.
But ordinary demons -- Dekan had grown tired of studying those.
After every encounter he'd had with demons thus far, the conclusion was always the same: pureblooded demons were virtually incapable of understanding human emotions.
And yet there was Shijiang -- the one exception that made his conclusion maddening.
How had she come to understand? What was the process? Were there specific conditions? Or had she paid some kind of price to comprehend it all?
That question was arguably the only remaining hurdle in Dekan's research.
If only he had a viable research subject.
But among all the demons Dekan had encountered -- the likes of Bachel, Olive, and their ilk -- he couldn't fathom that experimenting on any of them could ever teach them to understand human emotion.
Even a lifetime of experiments probably wouldn't succeed.
Yet this little nurse seemed to possess qualities distinct from ordinary demons.
Compared to others of her kind, she might have already taken a significant step down the path toward understanding humans.
Beyond being an excellent tool-demon in her own right, Dekan was increasingly convinced she was also an invaluable academic specimen.
Where Dekan had originally planned to use this foolish demon up and discard her once she inevitably surrendered to her desires, he was now growing certain that Eve had additional value.
Just as Dekan was debating whether to try another round of temptation augmented with Three Corpses Berserk, or go the intimidation route with the Sword of Bachel's Despair --
"If you agree to one condition, I'll serve you with my whole heart and never betray you."
The little nurse seemed to have mustered every ounce of courage in her body, staring straight at Dekan as she spoke.
She was trembling from head to toe, yet her eyes held the resolve of someone who had staked everything on one final gamble.
She appeared to have seen through Dekan's intentions early on --
Dekan had just changed his mind. He wasn't going to let her go easily.
Rather than defy a demon of this caliber and wait for a miserable ending, it was better to take a chance and try to negotiate an escape.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
Dekan was clearly intrigued by the little nurse's proposal, making no effort to mask his genuine interest in either expression or tone.
The little nurse swallowed hard.
She'd guessed right. This great demon was interested in her.
So long as that was the case, there was still room to negotiate.
But from this point on, every single word she uttered could bring down a death sentence.
This was a do-or-die gamble.
"I'm guessing that after you've helped me earn enough Devil Points, you'll be leaving, won't you?"
The little nurse asked.
"Go on."
Under normal circumstances, a little nurse saying something like this would have prompted Dekan to eliminate her on the spot.
But right now, there wasn't a trace of menace in his voice.
"I don't know what you're planning, but I can guess it's something that'll get heads rolling. And as your accomplice, even if I stayed behind at the hospital, I'd be executed."
The little nurse spoke as though she'd already accepted her own death.
"There's no point earning money if I'm not alive to spend it. I need you to guarantee my safety. Take me with you when you leave, and drop me off somewhere safe."
"Hahaha, you really are one fascinating demon!"
After hearing the little nurse out, Dekan finally burst into open laughter.
She truly possessed a level of rationality far exceeding that of any ordinary demon!
Rather than caving to desire or crumbling under pressure like every demon before her in Dekan's presence, she had calmly and rationally thought things through, analyzed the problem.
Indeed -- if she had lost to her own desire --
Dekan would have honored his promise and let her earn a fortune. But her greed would have gotten her killed by the hospital.
That was the ending Dekan reserved for the greedy.
But this little nurse had managed, through her own wit and courage, to not only escape that fate but earn Dekan's genuine regard.
If there was any demon who could come to understand humans the fastest, it would unquestionably be one like her -- non-aggressive and highly rational!
Dekan was even beginning to wonder whether encountering this little nurse had been part of Delois's plan all along.
And so, Dekan looked at her and said with sincerity:
"It's decided, then. I'll guarantee your safety and take you somewhere extremely safe. Our pact is sealed."
Though the little nurse was somewhat skeptical of Dekan's rapid change in attitude --
she still nodded. She chose to trust him without much further hesitation.
"Why do I get the feeling she's the one playing the role of a resolute young girl battling wits with demons, while you're the great demon trying to lure humans into the abyss?"
Having witnessed the entire exchange between Dekan and Eve, Shijiang couldn't shake the impression she'd just watched some kind of classic theatrical performance.
Except the casting seemed a bit off.
The playwright was clearly out of his mind.
"How could that be? Obviously it's a brave young man using his positive, wholesome values to reform a demon."
"Is it, now..."
"Obviously."
"Also, you went soft just now, didn't you."
By rights, Dekan should have made the terms of the pact far more lopsided.
And it seemed that even if Eve hadn't mustered the courage to speak up, Dekan had already decided not to harm her.
"Absolutely not."
Dekan and Shijiang bantered through their mental link.
As for Eve --
Dekan wouldn't just see his promise through to the end.
He was also planning a little surprise for her.
All she wanted was to be taken somewhere safe, right?
Was Holy Rite Church Cardinal Lunn's territory safe enough?
Absolutely.
Dekan was already looking forward to the expression on her face when they arrived at Lunn's territory.
He knew how to savor the good things in life.
"Let's go. I need to go submit my cross-department assignment application."
Dekan gestured for Eve to step aside and stop blocking the doorway.
His plan was just one step away from being set in motion.
And according to Eve, applications like this -- volunteered rather than ordered -- were typically approved quickly.
He could presumably begin today.
Begin devouring this hospital, piece by piece.
And the Great Demon residing within had no idea what kind of twisted changes were about to overtake the hospital...
...
Inside a ward on the sixth floor.
"Traitor...!"
"Why...?"
Faint, restless murmurs echoed through the dim room.
Her voice alternated between gritted teeth and bewildered confusion.
The gray-haired, long-haired demon lying in the hospital bed was gripping the bedsheets so tightly her knuckles had gone white, without even realizing it.
The next moment --
some disturbance seemed to jolt her awake, and her breathing gradually steadied.
She slowly opened her eyes and, with considerable effort, propped herself upright.
Her gaze was somewhat hollow, as though she was still lingering in the remnants of her dream, unable to fully emerge from it.
She also felt disoriented.
She was incredibly drowsy, and everything around her was quiet. What had woken her up?
Grrrrl.
The sound of her stomach protesting quickly provided the answer.
"I'm hungry."
She murmured without inflection.