Chapter 335
TL: Elphie / PR: Mikan
“Michael…?”
Irene blinked in disbelief as she called out to him.
She had seen similar eyes once before, a long time ago. Back when she witnessed the world Michael had endured, his eyes had gradually turned more and more crimson.
And now, the Michael standing before her had eyes even more vividly red than any she had seen back then.
âHas he regained his powers?â
Even so, why doesnât he remember her?
His appearance was undeniably Michael.
Even the clothes he wore were exactly the same ones he had been wearing before the entrance to the demon realm had swallowed them up.
And that wasnât all.
Ever since they began living together, Irene had always been the one to cut his hair.
Unlike him, who had a knack for things like that, Irene was still clumsy even after nearly two years.
So the last time she cut his hair, she had accidentally trimmed one part a little too short.
Sheâd felt bad about it and kept glancing at the uneven section. Michael comforted her by telling her not to worry about it because it would grow back.
The Michael with crimson eyes speaking to her now still had the exact spot on his hair where she had cut it too short by mistake.
Which meant he had to be her Michael. Then whyâ
“Who are you?”
You.
From the first time they met until now, even when he had lost his sanity, Michael had never referred to Irene so bluntly. Not just with herâhe had never used such an aggressive tone with anyone.
âCould he be possessed?â
During her travels across the continent with Michael, she had encountered people possessed by cursed artifacts, where foreign souls had taken over their bodies.
Most of the time, the possessing spirit was some sort of beast, usually a monster, and would simply go feral, snarling and trying to tear apart anything in sight. But once in a while, there were the quiet possessions.
And those were always worse.
The more composed the possession, the more cunning and persistent the spirit would be in fully claiming the body it had taken over.
Could Michael be in the same state now?
As Irene watched him, suspecting the worst, Michael let out a soft scoff and took a step back.
âYou with that tentacled bastard too?â
âTentacledâŚ?â
The moment she heard the word, only one image came to mind.
âChomp-chomp?â
Instead of answering, Michael simply snapped his fingers.
With that, the space beside them warped, and something dropped to the ground in front of Irene with a sickening thud.
At first, she couldnât tell what it was. Just that it was blood-soaked, as if it had just been hacked to pieces.
[Your MajestyâŚ]
But the moment she heard that faint voice, Irene swallowed the scream rising in her throat.
That bloodied heap was Chomp-chomp.
âChomp-chomp!â
Irene didnât care that her hands were getting soaked in blood. She dropped to the ground and pulled Chomp-chomp into her arms.
âI had no idea where its real body ended, so I just hacked apart whatever was visible.â
Michael said casually, eyes narrowing with irritation at the still-twitching form extending into the warped space beyond.
Frantically trying to cradle the mangled creature, Irene suddenly recalled something Chomp-chomp had once boasted about.
[Creatures with low miasma canât hurt me. So basically, the only ones capable of doing me harm now are His and Her Majesty!]
He had puffed up with pride as he said it.
[But since we reset everything, His Majestyâs miasma dropped while Her Majestyâs stayed the same. So now, technically, only Her Majesty can really smack me around. Of course, if His Majesty tried with real magical intent, it might sting a bit, because of residual miasma from before.]
And now this.
Chomp-chomp had been reduced to a mutilated, bleeding mess.
Irene had never done anything like this. Which could only meanâŚ
She slowly turned her head and looked at Michael again.
The being before her was Michael.
This Michael, this version standing before her, was the Monster King fully restored in both miasma and power.
