[Reverse Scale]

“Huh? ‘Substitute’?” The clown-like demon Kitezh tilted his head, confused.

Suddenly finding herself wrapped in a flame-like aura and the pain that was eroding her body disappeared right after, Zana was convinced that she was protected by Exa’s skill.

“Yeah, that’s right. He is protecting me.”

“I see. So, you won’t feel pain no matter how much I hurt you, while on the other hand, your friends can freely attack me even if you get caught up in the process—do I get that correct?”

“Yeah, you can take it that way. Now that you’ve got the situation, can you release me already?”

“Hmm~.”

This is troubling~, Kitezh crossed his arms, provoking a sense of incongruity in Zana.

The reason being, she couldn’t feel ‘impatience’ whatsoever from Kitezh’s tone.

Considering that Exa would take over the damage inflicted on her, attacking Zana was meaningless.

He couldn’t torment her, and she had no value as a hostage, either.

For the sadistic Kitezh, there should be no point in continuing this.

Or at least, that was what Zana thought, but—

“—Kishishi, you’re so naïve, young lady.”

“…What did you say?”

Kitezh’s smile gave her a sense of foreboding, her face turned stern.

“It’s true that I can no longer play doll with you. Tormenting you until you scream your lungs out, making you and your friends kill each other, then having my fill of your expressions as you fall into despairs until you completely break—all those fun things, I was supposed to enjoy to my heart’s content.”

“My, that’s unfortunate. You can only do all that in your dreams, now.”

“Yes, it’s unfortunate. Verily so. But—”

“—!?”

Kitezh’s eerily twisted face revulsed Zana so much that a chill ran down her spine.

In the meantime, Kitezh looked at Zana’s body as though to run his tongue all over it and said, “Giving you pain is not the only thing I’m looking forward to, you know?”

“Kh…”

“Onee-sama!?”

Iris drew her bow, but with “Oops,” Kitezh moved Zana in front of him, using her as a shield.

“Ugh…”

He then crawled his hands across her delicate body from behind and said, “Sure, she won’t feel pain, but will you really shoot your sister? Oh, right, all the pain goes to the Savior, doesn’t it? In that case, the one you’ll be shooting is none other than the Savior himself, won’t it? So, it won’t matter to you, right?”

“Y-you’re wrong! I—”

“Which part am I wrong!? You are trying to help your sister even at the expense of the Savior! For you, the Savior is just a convenient tool! What a terrible person! I dare say you actually hate the Savior, don’t you!? Yes, that must be it!”

“N-no… I’m just…”

As Iris stepped back with a face that seemed about to burst into tears, Phinis gently took her into her arms.

“Phinis… -sama…?”

However, she appeared as if she was carrying an unbearable burden, “I’m sorry,” she apologized, then a beat later continued, “You two got hurt because I had not the resolve to take that child down… I’m truly sorry…”

“Nfufu, you don’t have to apologize, Miss Mom. After all, it’s simply because you love your children too much. Ah, I’m so grateful to be born as the gentle Miss Mom’s child.”

Kishishishishi, Kitezh revealed a vulgar smile, causing Zana’s anger to reach the boiling point.

But.

“The nerve of you to—ugh!?” Her cheeks got forcefully clamped, preventing her to vent out her anger.

Then.

“Now, let’s start the fun, shall we? First—”

Rip! Kitezh tore open the chest part of Zana’s clothes, exposing her cute decorative underwear.

“Oh, dear!” Kitezh exclaimed excitedly upon seeing it, “I was intending to rip your clothes along with your underwear just now. I suppose that’s a dwarf-made item for you. It’s surprisingly sturdy.”

“…Unfortunately for you, my bare skin isn’t that easy to expose…”

“Kishishi, I wonder how long you can keep that tough act. Okay, let’s peel off the ‘bottom’ next.”

“—Wha!?”

As Kitezh slowly reached out his hand toward her skirt while wiggling his fingers, Zana’s face turned ghastly white, “S-stop…” and she twisted her body.

“Nfufu, you’re trembling, I see. You’re scared, aren’t you? Even if your physical pain can be taken over, that’s not the case with mental pain! However, no one can save you! After all, your dear Savior—is not here!”

“Kh, uhh…” Zana’s heart was about to break, unable to endure Kitezh’s provocation.

Still, even as tears filled her eyes, Zana did her best to put on a brave face and said, “…You will definitely regret this. He hates us hurting more than anything else… You’re already treading on thin ice just by inflicting physical injuries, which can be healed and he has taken over, on me, but if you were to leave an unhealable injury in my heart, you would touch his reverse scale. And believe me, you can’t imagine how terrifying he can be…”

“Yes, I can’t imagine it. That’s why I dare to do whatever I want.”

Like this! Kitezh tried to strip off Zana’s underwear along with her skirt, but—

“—Gihii!?”

“““!?”””

Suddenly, the aura enveloping Zana took the form of an arm and grabbed his face tightly.

The aura then grew fiercer and fiercer before eventually forming a young man with an expression that was boiling with rage.

“The fuck are you trying to do, you scumbag…!”