Date a Live:This is not the date I wanted! Chapter 601 601: Death

How long ago had that been?

In that isolated Wizard village, the boy had been a genius rarely seen in a hundred years, shining brightly amid everyone's awe and praise.

Magic, religion, the supernatural, mysticism, language, mathematics, geology, physics—whether it was magical theory accumulated and passed down by his ancestors through the generations, or books of knowledge that occasionally flowed in together with outside supplies, the boy could master it all with ease and leave behind extraordinary achievents.

There was no need to even ntion his peers. Even his teacher and the village elders were sowhat unable to compare with him. Only Elliot, who called himself his rival, could surpass him in the field of magical power control.

However, the boy did not feel that he was superior to others.

Whether it was magical attainnt or accumulated knowledge, in the end, it was only a difference in depth. As long as others walked along the sa path, one day, they would reach the sa height as him.

Rather, grasping the key and essence of things too quickly and too easily caused him to lose a certain joy that should have existed. A success that would make ordinary people cheer looked as tasteless as chicken ribs in the boy's eyes.

Biologically speaking, when overcoming so kind of challenge, the brain released dopamine as a reward, making people feel happiness and joy.

What about him? What were his challenges and rewards?

One day, sothing slightly unusual happened in the boy's otherwise plain life.

A beloved dog that had stayed by the boy's side since birth and accompanied him day and night suddenly passed away.

Death. A concept that he had already understood through knowledge, yet at this mont, it made goosebumps rise across the boy's entire body.

What was death? The cessation of bodily functions? The disappearance of will? The liberation of the soul? Or endless nothingness?

Clearly, the appropriate sorrow of losing family had appeared on the surface of his emotions. Yet his entire body felt incomparably excited and refreshed.

He stroked the gradually cooling, stiffening body of his beloved dog and appreciated the grief of his family and friends. That night, the boy laughed. He laughed very secretly, yet very freely. As if sothing that had been suppressed for a long ti had finally been released, the boy wrapped himself in his blanket and was so excited that he could not sleep the entire night.

The next day, the boy asked his parents to raise another dog. His parents probably never dread that their child's purpose was not to seek comfort or companionship. He simply wanted to appreciate the death of a family dog once more.

He understood.

This was his reward.

Of course, his natural intelligence made the boy clearly understand that his nature did not fit in with others. In order to avoid being isolated within the group, although he looked forward to the deaths of others, he never had the thought of actively harming them.

Until one day, a fortunate thing called misfortune descended beside him.

Flas that reached the sky illuminated the night. Screams and wails rang endlessly in his ears. Relatives, compatriots, belonging—all of them turned to ash in that great fire.

Elliot trembled with anger.

Ellen covered her face in tears.

Karen fell silent, voiceless.

And hidden beneath the boy's calm expression was near-boiling ecstasy. As if the patience he had endured for more than ten years had all been rewarded in this mont.

(TL:I really like his character, he's the kind that fully aware that he's weird as hell, he know what he do is wrong, he can have emotion, he can feel joy, sadness, remorse, but he don't care, Westcott can feel remorse for his actions but his remorse only leave him excited and aroused more)

…

In an instant, everything from the past replayed in Westcott's mind.

Perhaps this was what people called a revolving lantern. Looking at the blade slowly swinging toward him from Mana, a familiar feeling spread through Westcott's entire body.

(I see… So this is death…)

…

Takamiya Mana frowned unpleasantly.

It was not because she found it disgusting to be covered in Westcott's blood. For her, who had spent years hunting Kurumi, sothing like this had long since beco as ordinary as eating.

What made her feel uncomfortable was Westcott's death expression. The head she had cut from his neck, which had fallen to the ground and rolled along with a dull sound, had frozen in its final mont with a bizarre smile.

Moreover, at the instant she was about to kill Westcott, not only had the other party not made any defensive reaction, he had instead seed to welco it by spreading both arms.

Had she really killed Westcott? Mana looked at the right hand she had just swung her blade with and felt sowhat confused for a mont.

"Mana! How did it go? Did it work?"

Natsumi struggled to crawl up from the ground and asked nervously.

"It's fine! I've dealt with Westcott. But Natsumi-san, it would be best if you didn't co over here for now."

Seeing Natsumi walking over, Mana hurriedly spoke. When she had acted just now, she had failed to control her strength in anger and had directly cut Westcott's body into pieces. The scene was sowhat tragic. If Natsumi saw it, she might end up with psychological trauma.

However, just as Mana finished speaking, the pieces and liquid that had once been Westcott suddenly collapsed, turning into pitch-black particles like evaporating ice and drifting into the air.

"Mana, the blood on you is disappearing!"

Hearing Natsumi's cry of surprise, Mana finally noticed that the blood that had splashed onto her from Westcott earlier was gradually turning into particles of light and vanishing.

Finally, once the particles of light scattered, a Sephira Crystal flashing with black radiance lay quietly where Westcott had been standing.

Looking at this eerie scene, the two of them could not help staring at each other.

"W-what is going on?"

"I don't know either. Why did Westcott's corpse suddenly disappear?"

Mana shook her head in confusion.

"However, I can be certain of this. The one who fought you and just now was undoubtedly the real person."

As one of DEM's forr aces, Mana had had no small amount of contact with Westcott. That casual tone and twisted to the extre personality were absolutely the real thing. Moreover, what he used had indeed been Beelzebub, stolen from Nia.

But why? Why would his corpse display such a bizarre phenonon?

[He probably perford so kind of experint on himself too.]

"Marina?"

Hearing the sudden voice from the communicator, Natsumi could not help freezing.

[Didn't Father—Westcott himself say it just now? Inverted Crystals are almost impossible for humans to absorb. Then how did he, as a human, absorb Nia's inverted Crystal?]

Marina explained in a sowhat complicated tone. Hearing this, Natsumi and Mana finally reacted. Since an inverted Sephira Crystal could not be absorbed by humans, how had Westcott, who was human, managed to do it?

"You an… he stopped being human?" (TL:DIOOOOOO)

Mana asked with a strange expression.

[That way of putting it… Well, a peculiar body capable of adapting to an inverted Crystal, and an appearance that hasn't aged in thirty years. He definitely modified his own body sohow. This is probably a side effect of that modification.]

Marina sighed. For so reason, her voice sounded sowhat helpless and sorrowful.

[But don't worry. Westcott really is dead. Look around. Those things that looked a lot like have already disappeared, right? That is proof that Beelzebub has beco ownerless.]

Mana and Natsumi could not help raising their heads to look around. Just as Marina had said, the Nibelcoles that had been noisy in the sky earlier had completely vanished at so point.

"Hmph. Compared to the sins he committed, that way of dying was letting him off easy."

Mana snorted coldly, then asked Marina:

"Marina-san, what should I do now?"

[That's true. Since Westcott is already dead, DEM should surrender before too long. Recover Nia's Sephira Crystal. When you return for treatnt later, bring it back to the airship for inspection.]

"Understood."

Mana nodded, then picked up the inverted Crystal from the ground.

"B-be careful, Mana?"

Natsumi quickly hid behind a rock, poking her head out and asking warily.

"That is an inverted Crystal, right? And Westcott was using it too, right? There might be sothing strange mixed inside. If you aren't careful, you could get possessed."

"Honestly, Natsumi-san, you really are making a fuss over nothing. Look, nothing happened."

"D-don't bring it over here!"

Seeing Natsumi panic, Mana shook her head with both amusent and helplessness, then placed the inverted Crystal into her equipnt bag.

"There, that should be fine. Really, weren't you rather impressive just now when you were imitating Nii-sama?"

"That was just acting. Besides, I forcibly deployed my full Astral Dress once already. I won't be able to use my Astral Dress or Angel again for a while."

Natsumi explained with an embarrassed expression.

After undergoing Yutsuki's training, she knew how to control her emotions and use her full power state for a short period of ti. But in exchange, for a while afterward, she would have no combat ability, just like an ordinary person.

Although it was a trump card that carried great risk, thanks to that, Natsumi had been able to confront Westcott and catch him off guard.

Now that the key person, Westcott, had been defeated, and the Sephira Crystal had been recovered, with nothing strange appearing on Mana's side either, the worry in Natsumi's heart could finally settle.

However, just as she relaxed her guard, Mana's expression suddenly changed. She drew her blade and charged toward Natsumi.

What was going on? What happened?

Seeing Mana suddenly attacking her, Natsumi was thrown into complete panic.

She could not beat her, and she could not escape. Natsumi simply closed her eyes and, half giving up on herself, chose to crouch down and cover her head.

Clang!

The sound of blades colliding rang beside her ears. Natsumi could not help opening her eyes and saw that, at so point, a Wizard had advanced behind her.

"What? Your boss is already dead. Do you still want to keep fighting?"

Protecting Natsumi behind her, Mana blocked the magical blade with one hand and asked in a low voice.

However, the other party ignored Mana's words completely. Her hollow, lifeless pupils stared at Natsumi, and her facial features began twisting ferociously.

"…Spirit… Spirit… Spirit!!"

Along with a hoarse roar, the black light wrapped around the Wizard grew more and more intense, boiling continuously like flas.

(This person… Her power is increasing.)

Feeling the pressure transmitted through her blade gradually growing stronger, Mana was secretly shocked.

"Mana, more Wizards are coming!"

Hearing Natsumi's cry of alarm, Mana's expression could not help changing. Just how many Wizards had that man Westcott called over?

"Retreat!"

Now that Westcott had already been killed and the Sephira Crystal had been recovered, Mana naturally had no reason to keep entangling herself with them here. She grabbed Natsumi by the waist and used her Realizer to leave.

"What's going on? Isn't Westcott already dead? Why haven't those Wizards returned to normal?"

Looking at the Wizards pursuing them relentlessly from behind, Natsumi asked in confusion.

"I don't know either."

Mana shook her head. For so reason, she suddenly rembered Westcott's strange smile before his death.

"I have a bad feeling about this…"

Boom!

Imdiately afterward, a deafening explosion suddenly rang from the sky. One of Ratatoskr's airships flew over them, trailing thick black smoke, before falling into Tengu City.