Chapter 31
Halloway placed his finger on the wet back of Evelyn, who was lying face down and trembling.
His slender finger slowly trailed down her spine before stopping at the base.
Through his negligee, he could feel the faint, cool warmth of Evelyn’s body temperature.
As his hand pressed against her soft skin, Halloway spread his fingers and firmly pressed down on the small of her back this time.
The feel of her bare skin was starkly palpable against his entire palm.
When his hand slowly moved and reached her waist, Evelyn’s frantic hand stopped him.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
“Nothing.”
Halloway grabbed Evelyn’s waist. Her resistance was too feeble for Halloway to even notice.
“Cough…!”
Then, coughing, Evelyn vomited a wave of blood.
Though blood spread around them, Halloway’s expression remained indifferent.
Evelyn dying wasn’t particularly concerning to Halloway.
‘Rather than turning into one of those things later…’
Wouldn’t it be quite nice to preserve her just like this?
Halloway’s sunken eyes flickered strangely.
Halloway, seized by an inexplicable impulse, stared at his own hand gripping Evelyn’s waist.
The back of his hand, with prominent blue veins, looked as if it was enduring something.
Looking at Evelyn—with her beautifully curved figure, pale skin, and mysterious purple hair—Halloway thought he somewhat understood why Suriel was so obsessed with collecting.
If she were taxidermied, she would never leave his side.
She wouldn’t have to change.
If she doesn’t change, he could keep her for a long time.
If the moment came when he had to kill Evelyn because she had changed, he thought the feeling then would be somewhat… filthy.
‘So, it’s better to taxidermy her in this state.’
A peculiar light swirled in his red pupils.
“Evelyn.”
She flinched.
Every time he called her name, Evelyn reacted with her whole body, showing her fear.
A laugh escaped him at her small movement.
As time passed, Evelyn only fueled the desire boiling up from the pit of Halloway’s stomach.
Her wet nape and milky skin were temptingly ripe, constantly arousing his thirst.
A large hand wrapped around Evelyn’s neck.
Halloway sheathed his sword and cupped the head of Evelyn, who couldn’t properly hold herself up.
He stared intently at the nape of Evelyn’s neck as she gasped for breath.
Then, slowly lowering his face, he pressed it firmly against her neck, just short of biting.
“What are you doing right now?”
Evelyn’s highly irritated voice reached him. Halloway’s movement stopped.
“What is it?”
Halloway feigned ignorance innocently.
“You pressed something against my neck! What is it? Tell me honestly, and I’ll forgive you.”
“Really?”
“No.”
“……”
Somehow, it seemed the blade near her neck had disappeared, but the window for the ‘Taxidermy Ending’ didn’t pop up as being gone.
It meant she still wasn’t safe.
A throbbing pulse, starting from her heart, spread throughout her body, causing her to tremble involuntarily.
Evelyn touched the bandage covering her eyes as nonchalantly as possible.
“By the way, can I take this bandage off? I’ve lost so much blood I feel dizzy…”
“Then take a nap.”
Would you be able to sleep?
Just as she was about to search for another method since that one didn’t work…
[The ‘Flamethrower’ location is in the direction the arrow points.]
Evelyn cheered internally at the perfectly timed system window.
So thrilled, her mouth formed a ▽ shape.
She had a gun, but with her eyes bandaged, she would surely miss.
If she shouted ‘Long live!’ three times, he’d know she was about to shoot, so that was useless.
In contrast, the flamethrower had a wide range; even if she missed, she could at least inflict some burns.
It would be enough of a threat to Halloway…
…Right?
She didn’t know if anything could truly threaten him, but it was better than nothing.
Halloway, who had been watching Evelyn’s lips tremble with fear, now saw the corner of her mouth twitch with joy. He stroked her chin and stared intently at those lips.
‘And just moments ago, she was terrified…’
Halloway observed the sudden emotional change with interest.
A faint anticipation blossomed from deep within him, wondering how she would try to escape this situation.
Unbeknownst even to himself, Halloway was focused on Evelyn.
Evelyn, who couldn’t see a thing, pushed away Halloway, who was lightly holding her face.
Freeing herself from his embrace, she began to crawl.
Having lost too much blood, her legs had no strength—an unfortunate situation.
‘If I can just get my hands on the flamethrower…!’
Even if she couldn’t do much, still.
Fortunately, a floating arrow was visible, so she just had to follow it.
Along the way, she accidentally touched something squishy a few times, startling her and making her shudder, but it was okay.
The bandage was getting soaked with sweat.
Not tears.
Halloway silently watched Evelyn crawling diligently, leisurely observing from his spot.
“A turtle?”
His composure won’t last long!
After crawling desperately, Evelyn finally got her hands on the flamethrower. The feel of the cold metal sticking to her hand made her break into a wide grin.
[You have acquired the ‘Flamethrower’!]
[Flamethrower
Characteristics: Capable of wide-area attacks. Can burn anything in front of it.]
Even demons?!
[It’s the perfect temperature for burning humans!]
‘…So it’s not for demons?’
Evelyn was dumbfounded by the eerie and unlucky description. Still, she could inflict some damage.
She couldn’t see the flamethrower, so she fumbled around and awkwardly assumed a stance.
Watching Evelyn sit up and fumble with her back turned, Halloway strode over.
After only a few steps, he arrived behind Evelyn and stopped right there.
Evelyn licked her dry lips.
There was no way she couldn’t know.
Halloway’s chilling presence touched her back, making her hair stand on end.
“Are you done crawling?”
At his teasing voice, Evelyn’s grip on the flamethrower tightened.
“You should be careful.”
Suddenly, confidence filled Evelyn’s voice.
Halloway glanced at the weapon in Evelyn’s hand and understood but pretended not to. “Of what?”
“I might not be able to open the doors to my heart, but I’m good at opening my mouth. Smashing teeth is my specialty.”
“Ah…”
He let out a small sigh. Seizing the moment, Evelyn turned around and aimed precisely at Halloway’s center.
Halloway looked at Evelyn’s pleased expression somewhat suspiciously.
“Do you even know what that is? And how did you know it was there?”
“I saw it earlier.”
“……”
Unbelievable. It was unbelievable enough not to be believed.
Evelyn held her pounding heart and swallowed dryly, but fortunately, no ‘Suspicion Gauge’ increased.
Because Halloway didn’t particularly suspect her.
Given Evelyn’s actions so far, it wouldn’t be strange if she had seen the flamethrower’s location earlier and was only finding it now.
Her ability to survive by avoiding monsters was also exceptional.
‘…No, is it just luck?’
It would be more accurate to say she was lucky.
But he hadn’t expected her sense of direction to be good too…
[Halloway’s Danger Gauge has increased by 5.]
“……!”
Behind the bandage, Evelyn’s eyes widened in surprise.
She thought it would be okay…
The more Halloway thought deeply and analyzed each detail, the less he understood Evelyn’s actions again.
‘She is suspicious.’
Evelyn muttered, as if intending for him to hear. “Good thing it was in an easy-to-find spot…”
“……”
Is she deliberately telling me…?
Halloway’s eyes narrowed.
[Halloway’s Danger Gauge has increased by 10.]
Evelyn bravely feigned ignorance and issued a warning. “A mere human like me can only do this much. If you don’t step back, I’ll shoot.”
“A mere human…”
Did she say that deliberately because she knows my true identity, or was it just a remark?
[Halloway has decided to keep watching you for now.]
[Halloway’s Danger Gauge is resetting to zero!]
[From now on, if you make 5 suspicious actions in front of Halloway, he will consider you an enemy.]
[If the Favorability rating reaches 15% or higher, this condition will be completely revoked.]
Sh-she had passed the critical point, for now.
Evelyn sighed with relief invisibly.
Halloway took a step back and spoke nonchalantly. “You’re holding the flamethrower backwards. What do you think will happen if you shoot it like that?”
“I become the barbecue…?”
“Ding dong, correct.”
Damn it!
Evelyn clumsily readjusted her grip on the flamethrower.
“No, but the way I was holding it before felt more correct. This feels a bit uncomfortable…”
Feeling like it had become even more awkward, Evelyn tilted her head.
“Or perhaps trust yourself for once.”
Evelyn trusted herself as little as she trusted Halloway.
Hesitating, she finally adjusted her grip as Halloway suggested.
He was the final boss; she never imagined he’d kill her in such an absurd way.
Watching Evelyn smile victoriously, Halloway finally covered his eyes with his hand and bent over, laughing.
“Heh heh…”
Halloway’s body shook with fine tremors. The fact that she, like a fool, believed him so readily was somehow endearing.
Trusting the words of the man threatening her, she held it backwards and aimed at Halloway.
“You’re not there. It’s here.”
Evelyn adjusted her aim slightly.
“No, not there. Here.”
“Here?”
“No, no, here.”
“H-here?”
“Here.”
As she kept missing the direction, Evelyn couldn’t take it anymore and let out a shout.
“Ahh!”
Where, just where! I’ll just shoot!
Just as Evelyn was about to press the flamethrower button, Halloway grabbed her hand to stop her.
“What am I going to do with you, trusting people so easily?”
“…Huh?”
“It would have fired backwards.”
“No, you said…”
You said I was holding it backwards!
As expected, you can’t trust a devil’s words.
Evelyn engraved this lesson into her bones: her own judgment was more reliable than a devil’s words.
“I saved you again, noona, right?”
“…What kind of.”
What nonsense is this?
He nearly kills her and then says he saved her?
It was utterly absurd, but Halloway was sincere.
Even with her eyes covered, Evelyn’s dumbfounded expression was so funny that Halloway laughed heartily before wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes.
Looking at Evelyn’s lips, which hadn’t stopped chattering, he admitted to himself:
‘It would be no fun to take the life of a comedian.’
Even if she were taxidermied and remained unchanged, the thought that these full lips would never move again caused an unpleasant, nauseating sensation to churn within him.
Halloway’s laughter abruptly ceased.
It was a bad sign.
Unaware of Halloway’s complicated feelings, a fanfare sounded before Evelyn, and fireworks exploded.
[Congratulations! ☆٩(｡•ω<｡)و The ‘Taxidermied Beautiful Evelyn’ route has been completely deleted!]
[The soaring desire for possession is beginning to calm.]
[Possessiveness has decreased by 11%.]
[Possessiveness has decreased by 20%.]
[All stats have returned to normal!]
[Favorability has increased by 8%.]
[Attachment has increased by 7%.]
[Favorability: 18.5%
Attachment: 18%
Possessiveness: 19.2%]
[Congratulations!☆٩(｡•ω<｡)و The ‘Taxidermied Beautiful Evelyn’ route has been completely deleted!]
I-It’s done!
I succeeded!
I completed the 9th story quest and suppressed the exploding possessiveness!
I-I’m alive. I survived…
“Seeing you chatter non-stop like this, even though you knew what I pressed against your neck earlier, is quite impressive. And on top of that, threatening me with this piece of junk?”
It seemed she wasn’t completely safe yet.
Just then, a long finger carefully brushed away the hair stuck to the corner of her mouth.
[Excessive blood loss is beginning to cause physical abnormalities.]
As if waiting for the window to appear, a chill ran through her, and the hand holding the flamethrower began to shake.
It certainly hadn’t felt that heavy before, but the flamethrower suddenly felt ponderous.
It was as if something was pressing down on her body, making it hard to breathe properly.
The eerie sensation of blood draining away was felt vividly. To regain her senses, she forced her staggering body upright.
Then, out of nowhere, Halloway pressed firmly on the wound on her arm.
“Ahk!”
The pain brought her fading consciousness sharply back.
Ignoring her scream entirely, Halloway didn’t remove the hand pressing on her wound.
A sharp pain crushed her arm. Unable to bear it, she sniffled and threatened him.
“It hurts! Stop it! Or I’ll really shoot!”
Despite her long, empty threats, Halloway ignored her pained moans and asked, “What are you going to say next?”
What ‘next words’?! She grabbed his hand tightly and pleaded earnestly. “Just let go of that hand first!”
It hurts like hell!
“Ah, this?”
But instead of letting go, Halloway pressed harder.
“Ahhk!”
It hurt so much tears welled up in her eyes.
Damn it, I don’t care anymore. I’m going to shoot!
The moment she was about to shoot, her head spun.
Strength drained from her body instantly, to the point where she nearly dropped the flamethrower she was holding.
[You are falling into an incapacitated state due to excessive blood loss.]
As she fell backward, Halloway caught her firmly.
“You faint before answering.”
Even in this situation, you…!
“Noona.”
Gritting her teeth, she spat out the words, chewing them over as if to thoroughly ignore him. “Be careful walking at night…”
She couldn’t see Halloway’s expression or know his thoughts right now, but she knew one thing for sure.
[Favorability has increased by 4%.]
[Attachment has increased by 5%.]
It seemed like Halloway’s mood wasn’t bad.
It seemed he mistakenly thought she was a good person, concerned about his well-being at night.
