The Demon of Pleasure: Starting with Angel, Shiina Mahiru! Chapter 476 476: The Mad Roswaal

Emilia didn't know why Echidna had teared up, but being kind-hearted by nature, she instinctively wanted to comfort her.

However, Echidna seed to dislike that kindness even more, and imdiately kicked her out of her domain.

When Emilia opened her eyes, she realized she was still beside Hayashi Maki, her small hand held firmly in his.

Her face flushed at once.

"Maki-kun… I-I did it! I passed!"

Even though she was shy, she still shared her joy with him imdiately.

Hayashi Maki smiled and nodded, then raised a hand to gently pat her head, feeling the smoothness of her silver hair.

"Congrats, Lia. I knew you could get through it. So… you've recovered your past mories now, right?"

"Yes… I rember everything."

A trace of sadness surfaced on Emilia's face.

"Because I broke my promise to Mother Fortuna… I ended up causing everyone in the forest to die."

"After the Black Serpent's corruption, they were… and then I froze everything with my power. I'm the one responsible for the Frozen Forest."

"But even so, I won't give up, Maki-kun. I'll find a way to restore everyone—no matter what!"

With that, she clenched her fist, trying to pump herself up.

"Mm. I believe you, Lia. I'll look for a way with you."

Hayashi Maki smiled as he made his stance clear.

"Thank you, Maki-kun."

Emilia, moved, threw herself into his arms and couldn't help rubbing her cheek lightly against his chest.

His presence made her feel steady—safe—like as long as he was here, anything was possible.

When she rembered that kiss from before, her heart turned bashful all over again.

You have to take responsibility for the child, okay…

In her innocent misunderstanding, Emilia still believed that a kiss could lead to having a child, so she'd already ntally slotted herself into the role of Hayashi Maki's partner and "the future child's mother."

"Alright. Since you cleared the first trial, let's go back and tell everyone the good news."

"Mm. I'll listen to you."

Emilia nodded slightly and smiled sweetly.

As they walked, she told him what she'd experienced in the trial—everything, including the part where Echidna cried and said she hated her.

Hayashi Maki grew curious about Echidna's connection to Emilia's mother.

But even if he asked, Echidna probably wouldn't explain.

Emilia's mother's identity felt more like a taboo; because of the contract, the witches couldn't speak freely about it.

Well, it wasn't sothing urgent right now.

Echidna was already contracted—next would be carrying out what they'd agreed on.

Back at their residence, Emilia happily announced that she'd passed the first trial.

Everyone looked shocked.

Only then did they realize the trial had three stages.

Garfiel had failed at the first stage—and he'd never even t the Witch of Greed—so seeing Emilia succeed made him look at the half-elf woman in a new light.

Then ca the main event.

Hayashi Maki cleared his throat twice and said:

"Roswaal, Beatrice—I've successfully contracted Echidna. I can summon her at any ti."

"A summoned target can also manifest with a physical body—like a spirit, sothing with form—so it can be considered a kind of revival. Do you want to see her?"

Roswaal and Beatrice both tensed with emotion.

Beatrice clenched her fist nervously, thought for a mont, then shook her head.

"Not yet. For Betty, as long as you succeeded, that's enough. We'll have plenty of ti to et later."

Right now, what she cared about most was Hayashi Maki. Compared to him, even "Mother" didn't feel as important.

Roswaal took a deep breath.

"I want to see that revered lady with my own eyes. Please—let her appear."

What he wanted wasn't the witch's corpse in a coffin within the Sanctuary's core—he wanted a living, present Echidna.

"Alright. As agreed, I'll grant your request."

Hayashi Maki extended his hand, and a magic circle rose from the floor.

It was his improved familiar-summoning technique.

Borrowing from Echidna's artificial spirit-creation thods, he used mana and alchemy to condense a body for her—letting her appear in the form of a spirit.

Echidna, who had been hiding in the dream-space, didn't even have ti to react before a force yanked her away and she vanished from where she stood.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw familiar faces.

A teary-eyed Beatrice, and a man with a complicated gaze and an excited expression—painted in clown-like makeup—her disciple, Roswaal.

And Hayashi Maki, smiling as he appraised her—the brazen man who had contracted her—and the silver-haired half-elf who'd made her cry.

Echidna clenched her fist, assessed her state, and her expression turned intrigued.

"So that's how it is… You condensed my body through summoning—creating a spirit vessel capable of housing a witch's soul. Impressive technique. That's very powerful magic."

Originally, the container she'd favored most had been Ryuzu yer.

Ryuzu yer could beco the crystal of the Sanctuary's core and keep functioning for centuries—proof enough of her excellence.

But the arrival of that "lancholy" anomaly had left Echidna no ti to plan, no ti to use Ryuzu as a template to craft the perfect body for herself.

And now—this man had done it effortlessly.

With a simple gesture, he'd created an almost perfect spirit body for her.

A different kind of revival.

And Echidna could feel it clearly: the energy sustaining her activity was Hayashi Maki's mana.

This man's internal mana reserves were so vast she couldn't even see the bottom of them.

"M-Mother… is it really you?"

Beatrice's trembling voice pulled Echidna back.

Echidna smiled at the girl.

"Who else would it be? Beatrice… you've worked hard guarding the Forbidden Library all these years."

"Waaah… Mother!"

Beatrice finally couldn't hold it in—she threw herself into Echidna's arms, saring tears against her chest.

"Oh my… even after all these years, Beatrice is still such a little crybaby. What am I going to do with you?"

Even though she was a witch, to leave a good impression she still instinctively showed the gentler side she once had.

"Waaah… Mother… Beatrice missed you so much!"

Beatrice was already clinging and whining; Roswaal's body began to tremble.

"Is it really you… Teacher?"

"Wait—why are you calling Mother 'Teacher'?" Beatrice shot an annoyed glare at Roswaal's descendant.

Echidna chuckled and casually exposed his secret.

"Because he is the original Roswaal. Using that thod, he forced himself to live until now—though it's rather disgusting."

Roswaal shuddered, then smiled.

"Being able to see you again… makes everything worth it."

"Hayashi Maki—thank you for your generosity. If my life ended here, I'd have no regrets… but that isn't the outco I want, so…"

Roswaal smiled bleakly and snapped his fingers.

In an instant, a blizzard swallowed the entire Sanctuary.

"Then let everyone be buried here with !"

What he yearned for was returning to the very beginning—to the ti when Echidna would teach him magic, to the Echidna he'd once adored.

And now, clearly, Echidna would never allow him to remain at her side.

So his heart broke—and he chose to drag everyone down with him.