After I took the girl to the infirmary and explained the situation to the nurse, she asked me to put her on a bed as she followed the established procedure.
I was also asked to stay behind to explain the situation again later. Although I found it slightly bothersome, I agreed after considering that it was about suicide.
Plus, perhaps I could learn more about the girl’s situation by staying behind.
Meanwhile, though, there was something I needed to hear first.
[Demon, what is this ‘piece’ that you mentioned before?] I asked in my mind.
The demon did not reply immediately and instead fell deep into thought while considering how much to explain.
Eventually, he spoke.
[Do you remember what I have told you about me?]
I nodded confused.
Back when we met, the demon introduced himself as an Immortal. He called himself The Incarnation of Apocalypse, the Eternal Collapse, and the Bringer of Calamity and Destruction, Armageddon.
He told me that a fragment of his soul fell into this world to recover after being defeated by another immortal and that he needed to fuse his soul with mine to recover.
[All of that is true, but I omitted one thing.] The demon sighed. [I’m not the only fragment that fell into this world.]
I froze.
[Do you mean…?]
[It’s like you guessed. There are other people like you out there. Just like you, they formed a contract with me and agreed to help me to recover in exchange for something. They are what I call ‘pieces’.]
My expression became stern.
I already got an idea about where this is going.
It’s only a matter of putting two and two together. The demon fought another immortal and lost so badly that what remained of him was several fragments of his soul, and I got one of them.
These fragments formed contracts with different hosts with the goal of making them stronger and thus recovering in the process.
But, if there are several fragments, which is the most logical way to recover?
The answer is simple, it’s to fuse back together.
But when the fragments fuse with the hosts, their souls become one. The demon told me back then that trying to separate our souls again would kill me.
How should the fragments fuse then?
Easy, kill the hosts and absorb their souls together with the fragments.
[It looks like you already realized the gravity of the situation.] The demon commented. [It’s as you guessed. The easiest way for me to recover is to fuse with the other fragments, but there is only one way to fuse with a fragment that already has a host.]
“Killing the host.” My expression was dark.
[It’s good you understood the situation quickly.]
“Why did you not tell me about this before?” I asked while trying my best to hide my irritation.
[I didn’t think it was the time yet. Honestly, I did not expect to meet another ‘piece’ so soon.]
“Then, if the host of the fragment you felt just now finds me, he will try to kill me.”
[He will.]
“...”
[Fortunately, he should not be able to find you easily.]
“Finally, good news.” I sighed sarcastically. “Why?”
[Because you are too weak, and consequently, I’m weak too. I’m so weak that unless I unleash my abilities, he should only be able to feel my aura if he is right beside you. Unlike me, the other fragment should be considerably stronger. He also used some kind of ability to influence that girl. That was the reason I found out about him.]
“So we are in the shadows and he is in the light, huh.” My expression finally improved, only just a bit though.
It’s a fact that my situation is still bad. There is someone out there who wants to kill me and is stronger than me. Worse yet, I know almost nothing about him.
“Do you have any ideas about his abilities at the very least?” I asked the demon with a bit of hope, but he dashed them immediately.
[I don’t. We are different fragments, so the memories we hold are different. I have no way to know the abilities that fragment taught its host.]
As expected.
I held my head feeling a headache.
In other words, my only clue was the girl I stopped from committing suicide today.
“One last question, demon. How many ‘pieces’ are out there?”
[No idea. But there must be a lot. Perhaps more than one thousand.]
I groaned.
One thousand!?
What kind of crazy battle royale is this?
“Is this the risk of being your host that you mentioned before?”
[This is just one of them. There are a lot more. Even I could be unaware of some of them.]
A bitter smile appeared on my face.
But I quickly recovered my composure.
Although the news about the other fragments caught me by surprise, I was already prepared for something like this.
From the moment the demon told me that being his host came with many dangers, I was prepared to face life-threatening situations in the future.
This is just one of them.
I should have died when I fell into that dungeon, but I survived. I don't plan to die now.
“I guess I should focus on the problem at hand first.”
I need to find a way to learn about the fragment the demon felt.
Just then, someone approached me.
It was Jazmine, the secretary of the student assembly.
She walked over while accompanied by a stern-looking woman.
“Jane, it’s Mrs. Davis. She will record your statement about the attempt of suicide of the student Gerona Alcias.”
I nodded and recounted the situation to the woman while replying to some questions.
After I was done, I glanced at Jazmine.
“By the way, can you tell me why she attempted suicide?”
“… We are not sure yet,” Jazmine replied after hesitating briefly. “The paramedics that examined her told us that her mana circuits were a complete mess, and her body showed grave signs of exhaustion. Also, after she recovered consciousness, she struggled violently forcing the doctors to give her tranquilizers. Apparently, she is showing signs of withdrawal.”
“Withdrawal? She is a drug addict?”
“Most likely. The doctors still need to examine her a bit longer, but everything indicates that the main reason she tried to kill herself was due to the withdrawal signs.”
I fell deep into thoughts.
How is it related to the other fragment of the demon?
After I took the girl to the infirmary and explained the situation to the nurse, she asked me to put her on a bed as she followed the established procedure.
I was also asked to stay behind to explain the situation again later. Although I found it slightly bothersome, I agreed after considering that it was about suicide.
Plus, perhaps I could learn more about the girl’s situation by staying behind.
Meanwhile, though, there was something I needed to hear first.
[Demon, what is this ‘piece’ that you mentioned before?] I asked in my mind.
The demon did not reply immediately and instead fell deep into thought while considering how much to explain.
Eventually, he spoke.
[Do you remember what I have told you about me?]
I nodded confused.
Back when we met, the demon introduced himself as an Immortal. He called himself The Incarnation of Apocalypse, the Eternal Collapse, and the Bringer of Calamity and Destruction, Armageddon.
He told me that a fragment of his soul fell into this world to recover after being defeated by another immortal and that he needed to fuse his soul with mine to recover.
[All of that is true, but I omitted one thing.] The demon sighed. [I’m not the only fragment that fell into this world.]
I froze.
[Do you mean…?]
[It’s like you guessed. There are other people like you out there. Just like you, they formed a contract with me and agreed to help me to recover in exchange for something. They are what I call ‘pieces’.]
My expression became stern.
I already got an idea about where this is going.
It’s only a matter of putting two and two together. The demon fought another immortal and lost so badly that what remained of him was several fragments of his soul, and I got one of them.
These fragments formed contracts with different hosts with the goal of making them stronger and thus recovering in the process.
But, if there are several fragments, which is the most logical way to recover?
The answer is simple, it’s to fuse back together.
But when the fragments fuse with the hosts, their souls become one. The demon told me back then that trying to separate our souls again would kill me.
How should the fragments fuse then?
Easy, kill the hosts and absorb their souls together with the fragments.
[It looks like you already realized the gravity of the situation.] The demon commented. [It’s as you guessed. The easiest way for me to recover is to fuse with the other fragments, but there is only one way to fuse with a fragment that already has a host.]
“Killing the host.” My expression was dark.
[It’s good you understood the situation quickly.]
“Why did you not tell me about this before?” I asked while trying my best to hide my irritation.
[I didn’t think it was the time yet. Honestly, I did not expect to meet another ‘piece’ so soon.]
“Then, if the host of the fragment you felt just now finds me, he will try to kill me.”
[He will.]
“...”
[Fortunately, he should not be able to find you easily.]
“Finally, good news.” I sighed sarcastically. “Why?”
[Because you are too weak, and consequently, I’m weak too. I’m so weak that unless I unleash my abilities, he should only be able to feel my aura if he is right beside you. Unlike me, the other fragment should be considerably stronger. He also used some kind of ability to influence that girl. That was the reason I found out about him.]
“So we are in the shadows and he is in the light, huh.” My expression finally improved, only just a bit though.
It’s a fact that my situation is still bad. There is someone out there who wants to kill me and is stronger than me. Worse yet, I know almost nothing about him.
“Do you have any ideas about his abilities at the very least?” I asked the demon with a bit of hope, but he dashed them immediately.
[I don’t. We are different fragments, so the memories we hold are different. I have no way to know the abilities that fragment taught its host.]
As expected.
I held my head feeling a headache.
In other words, my only clue was the girl I stopped from committing suicide today.
“One last question, demon. How many ‘pieces’ are out there?”
[No idea. But there must be a lot. Perhaps more than one thousand.]
I groaned.
One thousand!?
What kind of crazy battle royale is this?
“Is this the risk of being your host that you mentioned before?”
[This is just one of them. There are a lot more. Even I could be unaware of some of them.]
A bitter smile appeared on my face.
But I quickly recovered my composure.
Although the news about the other fragments caught me by surprise, I was already prepared for something like this.
From the moment the demon told me that being his host came with many dangers, I was prepared to face life-threatening situations in the future.
This is just one of them.
I should have died when I fell into that dungeon, but I survived. I don't plan to die now.
“I guess I should focus on the problem at hand first.”
I need to find a way to learn about the fragment the demon felt.
Just then, someone approached me.
It was Jazmine, the secretary of the student assembly.
She walked over while accompanied by a stern-looking woman.
“Jane, it’s Mrs. Davis. She will record your statement about the attempt of suicide of the student Gerona Alcias.”
I nodded and recounted the situation to the woman while replying to some questions.
After I was done, I glanced at Jazmine.
“By the way, can you tell me why she attempted suicide?”
“… We are not sure yet,” Jazmine replied after hesitating briefly. “The paramedics that examined her told us that her mana circuits were a complete mess, and her body showed grave signs of exhaustion. Also, after she recovered consciousness, she struggled violently forcing the doctors to give her tranquilizers. Apparently, she is showing signs of withdrawal.”
“Withdrawal? She is a drug addict?”
“Most likely. The doctors still need to examine her a bit longer, but everything indicates that the main reason she tried to kill herself was due to the withdrawal signs.”
I fell deep into thoughts.
How is it related to the other fragment of the demon?
