The Deities of Hell

The Pig Bastard was still charging toward them.

Drooling, it opened its eyes wide and came after them at full speed.

Holding his injured foot, Ritsu looked at the Pig Bastard with tired eyes.

Pomkichi panicked and showed a miserable expression.

“Balor.”

Ritsu invoked the Evil Eye.

However, the Evil Eye looked different from usual.

His eyes weren’t blue or yellow but changed into a shining red.

At the same time, the rushing movements of the Pig Bastard stopped just barely before reaching his head.

The Pig Bastard stretched out his tongue, but stopped moving as if his body had frozen.

“What? It stopped moving!?”

Pomkichi was puzzled by the scene in front of him.

“I told you, as the protagonist, I have full plot armor. This red Evil Eye is effective against devils and ghosts. It’s just that I become hungry when I use it!”

“Wow! As expected of you, Ritsu!”

Although the Pig Bastard has stopped, Ritsu couldn’t run away.

He fully understood that.

However, he reached out a hand toward the Pig Bastard and, as if to crush an apple, he slowly made a fist.

As he did that, blood started to gradually seep from one of the Pig Bastard’s eyes.

Similarly, Ritsu’s eye started bleeding too.

Then, the Pig Bastard’s eye was eventually crushed.

“Biiii!?”

“Ahhhh!!!”

Ritsu pressed a hand to his eye and crouched.

Although his eye hadn’t been crushed, he had to bear the pain and bleeding of it.

Being exposed to the power of the Devil Eye, the Pig Bastard tucked in his tail and left as if it was running away from Ritsu.

“Biii!”

Crouching and holding his eye, Ritsu started hyperventilating.

Pomkichi approached Ritsu and continued to call out to him, but Ritsu couldn’t hear him.

“Ritsu! Come on! Ritsu!”

“Pant pant pant… Damn.”

Ritsu ended up blacking out like that.

***

Ritsu opened his eyes.

A bandage covered his eye, and he was lying on a bed under a blanket.

He wasn’t wearing his jersey anymore.

Ripping off the blanket, he confirmed he was still wearing his underwear.

A fire sputtered in the fireplace and cast a warm glow in the dim room.

Although the room looked clean, parts of the walls and ceiling were broken.

“Who nursed me?”

“Me.”

A young woman came through the door to the room.

Pomkichi entered together with the woman and jumped up on Ritsu.

“Morning Ritsu!”

“M-morning… Who is this?”

“The person who saved us, Kaori Kisaragi.”

The woman—Kaori—was a calm, beautiful woman.

She was dazzling enough to make Ritsu blush and feel shy.

“Thank you… for saving me.”

“This bear dragged you to me. If you want to thank anyone, it should be the bear.”

“Thank you, Pomkichi.”

Ritsu grabbed Pomkichi’s collar and thanked him.

“T-that’s the wrong way to express your thanks…”

“What a strange plushy. It’s not just that it can talk, but it moves like it’s alive… Toys are really well made these days.”

“No, this is a strange guy concealing his true nature and pretending to be a plushy.”

“Well, a friend of the devils?”

“It’s definitely that.”

“No way!?”

“Ahahahaha!”

Pomkichi was made a fool by Ritsu and Kaori.

Despite that, Pomkichi looked somewhat happy.

“Rather than that, how are your injuries?”

“My foot is fine. My eye is still hurting, though.”

“Let me see.”

Kaori sat down on the bed and touched the bandage on Ritsu’s foot.

“Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Let me see your eyes, too.”

“Y-yeah.”

Kaori drew near Ritsu, removed the bandage on his eye, and took a long hard look at his eye to check its condition.

When she did that, Ritsu was gazing at her chest, tormented by indecent emotions.

After finishing looking at Ritsu, Kaori put on a fresh bandage on his eye.

“It seems like the bleeding stopped.”

“Y-yes.”

Seeing that Ritsu was acting weird, Kaori was confused.

“What happened?”

“Huh? No… My sword just got big so…”

“Sword? Oh, the wooden sword? If so, I picked it up. Your clothes have finished drying, too.”

Kaori handed over the sword and jersey to the blushing Ritsu.

“Thanks.”

“No worries.”

“U-um… What are you doing here, Kaori?”

Receiving the sword and jersey, Ritsu asked while glancing at her chest.

“I was brought here by Lars a few months ago. Since the army drove Lars out two years ago, he’s been making fewer appearances, but… It’s not like that stopped him from showing up completely.”

“Haven’t you tried to leave? From this sanctuary.”

“It’s impossible. My legs go soft each time I see a devil. The police I was with let me escape, but I’ve just barely found a place to hide and live. If the devils basically don’t leave their own areas, so they don’t come to the dark desolate places,”

Kaori spoke, trembling.

Seeing her like that, Ritsu sympathized with her and wanted to help her.

“Won’t you come with us? I will escape from this sanctuary… So, come with us.”

“Thank you for inviting me, but I’ll have to decline.”

“T-then… I will protect you, Kaori… I will definitely escape from the Sanctuary. Won’t you gather the courage to get away from here with me—”

Ritsu stubbornly held out his hand, but Kaori slapped his cheek.

“I told you it was impossible! Everyone isn’t as brave as you! Leave me alone!”

“S-sorry…”

“I-I’m shorry.”

Ritsu apologized after Kaori got angry and slapped him.

Then, for some reason, Pomkichi also started to apologize.

“N-no. I’m the one who should apologize. Even though I’m an adult, I raised my hand to a child…. I’m sorry. But since it’s definitely impossible… I don’t have that courage.”

“N-no, it’s my bad. I’m sorry.”

Coming to her senses, Kaori felt guilty, and Ritsu similarly looked down.

After growing silent, Ritsu changed into the jersey, carried his backpack on his back, held his sword and finished the preparations to depart.

“Then thank you for everything. I will go now, so…”

Ritsu said with a gloomy expression, and Kaori hugged him tight.

Having his face buried in her chest, Ritsu felt incomprehensibly happy.

“Make sure you definitely escape, okay?”

Hearing that, Ritsu strangely shed tears.