"Yomi…"
Yomi's face was still pale like a corpse as always. He looked at me with a sharp gaze, but I just shrugged my shoulders, "No," and said, "My business is with you, actually. I was just chatting with Patty while waiting for you."
"You have a business with me? That reminds me, we still haven't finished our fight, haven't we…?"
Voom, Yomi manifested a sword from the void.
But I just looked at him with half-closed eyes and said, "Stop, stop. I didn't come here to fight. Or rather, there's no reason for us to fight anymore, is there?"
"There is. I may have been created only to stall you, but my"Grow-Resurrection"is the only superpower with the potential to surpass you."
"That's why you're going to keep fighting me until you beat me—is that what you mean?"
"Yeah. That is one of my reasons to live."
Certainly, with a superpower that allowed the owner to get stronger the more time they die, he might truly surpass me one day.
But I wasn't going to lose that easily, either.
When that time came, I'd give him a run for his money with power that was even stronger than the Phoenix Form.
"I see. But with the current lack of 'filth' around the world, you are at a huge disadvantage. It'll likely take a long time for you to regenerate. Aren't you currently helping Leuke-san with the reconstruction work? With that being the case, you don't exactly have time to waste on me, right?" I said.
Still expressionless, Yomi hummed, "…Hmm," and made his sword disappear. "You do have a point. Fulfilling Lady Leuke's earnest wish is my first priority now. But how do you know?"
"I heard it from her. And she asked me to persuade you to treat her as a 'friend' instead of a 'lord'."
"Ahh, so that's why you went out of your way to come here."
Pon, Patty hit his palm with his fist, seemingly convinced, but Yomi snorted again and said, "Ridiculous. Although he was a saint, Lord Elysium was ultimately nothing more than an oni, a mortal, yet he managed to rose to the rank of god of genesis and created us only because of his esteemed wife and Lady Leuke. Since Lady Leuke is still alive, it is our duty as demons to protect her even at the risk of our lives. Therefore, it is only right for us to serve her as our lord."
I see.
It wasn't just because she was Elysium's daughter, but also because he felt indebted to her for their creation.
"Well, yeah, if it weren't for them Elysium wouldn't have created you. But it is Leuke-san's wish, so can't you be a bit more flexible…?" I said.
Yomi snorted, "Hmph, foolish advice. 'Flexible' is the farthest word from us demons."
"Right~, like, so, so far~," Patty spread his arms.
"No, I think you are very flexible…"
I looked at Patty who nodded to Yomi's words with half-closed eyes.
But this was a problem…
I knew after talking with him, but it seemed it would be quite difficult to change Yomi's mind.
But I couldn't just leave him as he was…
Hmm… after knitting my brows, a question suddenly came to me and I asked Yomi, "By the way, have you found any other oni?"
"Yes, but it's just one group. I told them that Lady Leuke is trying to rebuild the village. However, as soon as they learned that she was Lord Elysium, they began to show rejection. So I said to them: Go back to the village, or I kill you."
"Oiiii?! W-why the hell did you threaten them?!"
I retorted in panic, but Yomi just frowned puzzledly and said, "Why are you screaming? It is what Lady Leuke wants. Isn't it only natural that they go back to the village even if they die?"
"No, I don't think she would want that…"
I felt like I was about to get a headache, but I must not leave this guy alone, for various reasons.
I mean, if I left him alone, Leuke-san's efforts would surely go to waste…
So, I took a small breath and said, "…Okay. For now, I'll help you, so Yomi, you better learn a bit about 'communication'…"