The World Is Mine For The Taking

Beelzebub remained standing there for a moment, with Morishita's blade still lodged firmly in her back while everyone around her seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction from the supposedly injured Beelzebub.

"Oh..."

Beelzebub let out a small, almost casual sound, and it was only then that Kaori and Sakai finally released their grip around her body after holding her in place.

Beelzebub still had the blade stuck in her back, with Morishita continuing to hold tightly onto the sword, yet she simply smiled as though being stabbed was nothing more than a minor inconvenience that barely deserved her attention.

"Fufufufu..." she chuckled quietly while keeping that strange smile on her face. "Looks like..."

The aura surrounding Beelzebub suddenly became much, much more dangerous, and the change was so obvious that even them could probably feel the pressure coming from her.

Had that attack actually managed to piss Beelzebub off?

Considering who she was, I couldn't exactly rule out the possibility.

Even though she was currently together with me, Beelzebub was still one of the Seven Deadly Sins, and being associated with me didn't suddenly erase the nature that had made her one of the most terrifying beings in this world.

If anything, I probably should have expected something like this from her.

Satania had an incredibly short fuse, and Beelzebub wasn't exactly known for being the most reasonable person either, at least to me, so there was always the possibility that I had just watched the beginning of something very unpleasant.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder how far things would actually go.

But before I could think about it any further, Beelzebub suddenly changed her expression.

"I got defeated~!" she announced cheerfully, sounding almost like she was celebrating rather than admitting that she had been stabbed.

The sword that had been lodged in her back suddenly began disappearing into her body, as though her flesh had turned into a liquid that could simply swallow metal whole.

Morishita's hand was pulled forward by the movement, and her grip on the sword was suddenly broken as the weapon disappeared completely inside Beelzebub.

"Ah!"

Morishita looked like she was about to complain about what had just happened, but before she could properly say anything, Beelzebub suddenly spewed the sword back out from her body.

The blade came flying out completely covered in slime.

Morishita quickly caught the weapon in her hand, only for it to immediately slip through her fingers because of the layer of slime covering the entire blade.

Her expression became noticeably sour as she stared down at the sword in her hand.

"W-What...?" Sakai could only stammer while staring at Beelzebub, apparently unable to understand how someone could be stabbed like that and then continue standing around as though absolutely nothing had happened.

"S-She's not human?" someone finally asked while looking at Beelzebub with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. It was Kaori.

"Beelzebub is one of the Seven Deadly Sins," I explained while looking at them. "She's one of the most powerful beings in this entire world, so there is practically no way you could actually defeat her through something as simple as that."

I paused briefly before adding another important detail.

"In fact, what you're looking at right now isn't even her original body."

While I was explaining that, Beelzebub's body began changing before everyone's eyes.

Her child form gradually disappeared, and she returned to her usual appearance, the small, loli-like form that I had become accustomed to seeing whenever she wasn't deliberately changing her shape.

"You can call me Beelzebub," she said casually while looking toward the group. "The Sin of Gluttony."

I watched as everyone stared at Beelzebub with obvious fascination.

They looked confused.

"You could have explained that we were going to fight someone like her in the first place," Kashiwagi said while looking toward me. "That way, we wouldn't have had to hold back so much during the fight."

"If I had explained something like that from the beginning, then the entire purpose of the test would have become meaningless," I replied.

Kashiwagi didn't immediately respond, so I continued speaking.

"More importantly, I'm actually surprised by how much all of you have grown since the last time I watched you fight together."

I looked over the group before continuing.

"You managed to cooperate with one another even while dealing with an opponent who was considerably stronger than you, and you didn't completely fall apart when the situation became dangerous."

That was honestly one of the things I was most pleased about.

"You were able to recognize youe roles, cover one another, and keep the fight from turning into complete chaos, which is exactly the kind of teamwork I expect all of you to use once you enter the actual battlefield."

I let the words sink in for a moment before my expression became more serious.

"However, some of you still failed this test."

My eyes shifted toward Kashiwagi.

"You hesitated again."

Kashiwagi's expression immediately became tense.

"Even after your teammate was injured by the enemy, you still hesitated when it came time to deliver the final blow, despite already knowing that you needed to act."

I stared directly at him.

"What happens if the enemy actually kills your teammate next time? What happens if they suddenly stop fighting, beg for their life, or start acting harmless and cute like Beelzebub just did?"

I crossed my arms.

"Are you going to hesitate again because you don't want to kill someone who suddenly looks harmless?"

Kashiwagi gritted his teeth before lowering his head.

I could tell that my words were getting to him.

His pride was clearly involved again, but the problem was that his pride wasn't pushing him in the direction it needed to go.

Pride could be useful.

It could give someone the determination to stand their ground when everyone else was running away.

It could make someone refuse to surrender when the situation looked hopeless.

But pride could also become a massive weakness.

Kashiwagi had failed because of that once again.

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