At this point, even I understood: This thing was a demon of wrath. Is it trying to turn me into “Thor of Wrath” like how Machina turned into Machina of Pride?
Honestly, I didn’t mind as long as it lent me power. That red mana definitely came from its interference. To survive this place, I was willing to use even something creepy like this.
But...
You tried to make me feel anger toward Shiro and Kuro, didn’t you? You should’ve just settled with lending me your power.
“You dare speak to me like that?! Who do you think you are?!”
What? You’re angry? You’re just a friggin’ parasite living inside me!
“Fool! Give in to your rage!”
Oh, my anger just spiked again. That was you, wasn’t it? Huh? Now you’re trying to make me irritated at Shiro and Kuro? Wow, I can even feel a desire to kill them.
It could use more than words to provoke me—of course, it was a demon of wrath. It could even interfere with my emotions, especially anger.
But now that I know, it’s not gonna work anymore.
“Get angry! Get angry! Get angryyy!”
Deep in my brain, I felt a strange, shapeless anger rising. If I’d surrendered to it, it probably would’ve felt amazing. A twisted urge to destroy Shiro and Kuro took root within me. If I’d let myself go nuts and unleashed this destructive impulse, I probably would have felt like I was on top of the world.
But it’s not gonna work.
The demon of wrath stayed silent, but I could feel it react to my words.
There’s no way I’d ever feel anger like that toward Shiro and Kuro. This is a fake emotion you forced on me. You live inside me, and you still don’t get it? To me, Shiro and Kuro are everything. I can live only because they’re here. It’s not just me protecting them... They protect me too, in more ways than one.
Are you really a demon? Whatever. I don’t care about you anymore.
There it was again: that slight shift in its presence, like it was tensing up. Strangely, I couldn’t hear its voice anymore. Is it because I have no intention of borrowing its power now? Still—
You seem delicious.
It flinched.
I gotta be honest, I’ve been thinking that the whole time. I can’t help but wonder what a big mass of mana like you would taste like.
At this point, I could feel the demon recoiling.
What’s wrong? You scared now? It’s too late to apologize.
Let me eat you.
The moment I thought that, my mana writhed and wriggled and bit into the mysterious mana. I tore it apart, chewed, and absorbed part of it.
Ah, it’s so good.
But why? It’s not like I ate it with my mouth, so I shouldn’t be able to taste anything. But it’s so satisfying. My appetite, my instincts...feel so satiated.
I’ll devour you whole.
I can’t hear your voice anymore, but I can tell you’re begging for your life. But it’s too late. You reached into a place you should never have touched. Can you feel it? My anger?
The demon of wrath roared and wept—pathetic.
But I didn’t show mercy. I kept chewing, crushing, swallowing, turning it into nourishment.
I’ll devour every last bit of you!
“Let’s eat.”
“Thor?” said Shiro. “Are you dreaming about eating?”
“So greeeedy... Thor is such a greedy eater.”
Oops. Looks like I said that out loud. Just wait a sec, Shiro and Kuro. Let me eat this bastard and—
“No! No! No! No! I am wrath, how could this happen...?! The color of gluttony... Does this mean you’re not just a normal reincarnator...?!”
That’s enough out of you. Get lost.
“AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH—”
This is incredible. After devouring that mysterious being, power welled inside me, mana overflowing from every inch of my body. It wasn’t the red mana from before; it was blue.
“Thor, what is that?” asked Shiro.
“Thor, that’s craaazy.”
Shiro and Kuro stared, wide-eyed.
Honestly, this mana was on a completely different level from when I was converting anger into power. I could control it too. When I thought about keeping the overflowing mana inside my body, it immediately obeyed. Unlike the red mana, this felt like an extension of my own limbs. It felt so natural I wondered if this was my true mana.
At the same time, my stomach growled like a giant beast. Shiro and Kuro clutched their own stomachs too.
“I’m hungry...”
“Hungryyy.”
My stomach’s grumbling must’ve reminded them that they were hungry too.
“Looks taaasty.”
“It looks great...”
“Huh?”
As they watched Ares fight, Shiro and Kuro suddenly said something strange.
Looks tasty...? Wait...are they talking about Machina of Pride? Sure, she has a mushroom cap on her head, but still!
“That’s not— Huh?”
Wait, that is edible. This isn’t a guess—I’m absolutely sure of it, because my knowledge deems Machina of Pride as an ingredient. She’s a magical beast known as a celestial demon mushroom, and the head’s supposed to be an extremely rare ingredient.
Yeah, but isn’t that a Demon King? She’s edible...?
Machina of Pride cackled gleefully. “Die!”
“You’re not gonna kill me!” Ares spat back.
“Uhh...” No matter how many times I looked, Machina of Pride still registered as food. I could clearly see her weakness and how to defeat her. Even though she had a name and was classified as a singular being, the method to kill her was most likely the same as any other celestial demon mushroom.
Now she’s really starting to look like nothing but an ingredient. And—
“I bet she tastes really good...”
“Yeah!”
“Arf!”
Our stomachs growled in unison. The glutton bugs inside us howled loudly, demanding the tasty-looking mushroom. Just looking at Machina of Pride made me hungrier, more than when I’d healed everyone.
The rational part of me said that there was no way you could eat a mushroom growing on the head of a fearsome Demon King, while my instincts screamed with unbearable hunger. I didn’t feel even a trace of fear anymore. The only thought that came to mind when I looked at Machina of Pride was whether to eat the grotesque ingredient. That was it.
It wasn’t a matter of winning or losing; it’s only natural that you hunt ingredients and break them down.
“Shiro, Kuro, let’s do this.”
“Let’s defeat it and feast on mushrooms!”
“Mushroom partyyy.”
“Shiro, first you—”
“Myah—”
“Arf—”
Just as we finished our quick strategy meeting, Ares was blown away by Machina of Pride’s attack. He’d failed to dodge her arm and rolled right to our feet.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“What’s...that mana...?”
“Leave the rest to us.”
“Huh...?”
Ares seemed to finally notice my change, staring blankly at the blue mana rising from my body. At the same time, he must’ve realized my words weren’t bravado. He chuckled nervously.
“I always screw up in the end...”
As Ares muttered to himself, we moved forward.
“Shiro, you got this!”
“No worries!”
Shiro, our very own fearless shock trooper, shot forward in a single bound. Her job wasn’t just to attack.
“Myaaaaah!”
She tore off the black eye patch covering her left eye, glaring with both eyes straight at Machina of Pride. Her left eye, now that it had been freed, was gathering more mana than ever. Blue mana rose from her dragon eye as she scanned the enemy from head to toe.
Then, she grinned.
“Found it!”
“You were half dead, and now you dare defy me...?! But I will not fall to the likes of you...!”
“Never know till you try!”
“Shut up and become my nourishment...!”
Machina of Pride unleashed a storm of mana bullets. Each one was small, but with hundreds forming a wall of fire, dodging was impossible. The only option would’ve been to block them with a wall or barrier. At least, it would’ve been for me or Kuro.
But not for Shiro.
“Mya-mya-mya-mya-myaaaah!”
“What...?!”
“Mya ha ha! I can see them all!”
Using her dragon eye, Shiro read every trajectory, weaving through the barrage with wind magic. She’d twisted her body and slipped through impossibly narrow gaps, not taking a single hit—a cat, through and through.