Ch. 144 Leaving only fragments of various colors

After that, Mia stopped.

Even though the fires in other directions were still burning and the sound of wood cracking was constant.

But for some reason.

Everyone present, whether it was Artoria or Kay.

Or the villagers who had just sobered up a bit and realized they were trapped in a ‘nightmare’.

All stared blankly in that direction.

An achievement of destruction that didn’t seem like it could be accomplished by human power.

Mia stared intently at that vast expanse of ruins.

From within the rubble, a disheveled black cat demon crawled out.

No, it had already fallen into blackness; its current appearance probably didn’t look much more disheveled.

However, it was definitely dazed.

“Now’s our chance!” Mia shouted.

Artoria and Kay reacted immediately, rushing towards the cat demon.

Of course, their speed wasn’t as fast as Melina and Mia’s.

Cath Palug had just stood up in a panic, wanting to run south towards the coast, when it saw Mia appearing before it.

Mia teleported to the south of the cat demon, while Melina appeared to its east at the same time.

This monster cat finally showed a side more like an ordinary cat.

Its fur stood on end facing Mia.

“Don’t block me!” it screamed, but it didn’t dare to charge straight at Mia at all.

After all, it knew.

Mia could easily break through illusions with brute force and level a quarter of the village in an instant.

She was an existence even more terrifying than it, a young beast!

Cath Palug rushed towards Melina’s direction.

‘As long as I can reach that place, as long as I can get to the city…’

Then.

Melina swung two golden blade waves from her hand, grazing past Cath Palug’s body.

Not giving Cath Palug a chance to pass, Melina again used blade waves to force Cath Palug in another direction.

It was still just a young beast after all; although it held the Principle of Comparison, its physical body hadn’t grown enough to run rampant.

None of those cornering it here were ordinary people.

Artoria and Kay were rushing over from its west.

There was no other way.

The only place with no one was the north.

Cath Palug decisively bolted towards the north.

As long as it could cross the island and reach the northern coast.

With its swimming ability, swimming back to the city wouldn’t be a problem.

The monster cat was chased all the way north, leaving the village and entering the wilderness.

“Merlin, is the direction right?!” Mia called out while running.

“A little to the right,”

“My right?”

“Um… actually your left!”

“…”

Several people followed Cath Palug closely, occasionally forcing Cath Palug in the right direction according to Merlin’s instructions.

They had already run for several kilometers.

Just as the stamina of the three was starting to flag.

Artoria saw flower petals scattered on the ground.

“Right here!”

Whoosh—

Under the moonlight, a figure in a white robe dropped from a tree.

Merlin appeared in front of Cath Palug.

The cat demon immediately turned around, trying to bypass the person in front of it.

“Can’t let you run away again!”

The magus said so.

Accompanied by pinkish-white, dreamlike special effects, a magic circle surrounded Cath Palug.

“Roar——————”

Cath Palug retreated a few steps in panic.

The magic circle began to search; realizing something was wrong, Cath Palug tried to break through the circle’s confinement.

But unfortunately.

Every time it touched the edge of the circle, a burst of magic would bounce it back hard into the center.

The pinkish-white light gradually brightened, and Cath Palug, enveloped within the circle, sizzled all over, like water dripping into a hot pan.

A stream of sinister black smoke continuously steamed out of it.

Cath Palug shrieked, seemingly undergoing something incredibly painful, as it rolled continuously on the ground…

“I’ll kill you, tear you apart!” Cath Palug roared: “How dare you, how dare you…”

The magic circle shrank smaller and smaller.

The light on Cath Palug also grew more intense.

Finally, with one last roar.

“Bastard magus!”

Cath Palug turned into a pinkish-white point of light.

A breath later.

The light faded.

Lying on the ground was a creature with a color scheme very similar to Merlin’s.

—

That cat-like animal lay on the ground, its chest rising and falling with weak breaths.

A pink nose, a small and delicate body.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, no one would believe that it was originally a ‘Beast’ that could destroy the world.

“Huff… huff.”

Artoria, who had been sprinting for a long time, held her knees, panting.

“Is it dead?” she asked.

“Well, no.” Merlin spread his hands and shrugged.

He squatted down and picked up the white cat-like creature with just one hand.

“Why not kill it?” Artoria asked with some dissatisfaction.

This Beast had killed so many people; did it really just end so simply and easily?

“Well, let me explain it to you.” Merlin cleared his throat.

“Not all enemies need to be eliminated,” Merlin explained. “Some enemies have meaning even if they exist.”

“Didn’t you say that Beast is the embodiment of calamity?”

“That’s right,” Merlin nodded. “It is the Beast that holds the Principle of ‘Comparison,’ or rather, the power governing the Principle of Comparison has descended upon it.”

“Even if this Cath Palug were killed, the Evil of Humanity it represents wouldn’t disappear. Perhaps, if we kill it now, in the future, a little dog named Se Palug might inherit the name of the Beast of Comparison?”

Merlin shrugged.

Artoria pursed her lips: “So, it’s better to let it continue living?”

“Mm-hm,” Merlin nodded vigorously. “If I can turn it into my familiar, I can restrain it and prevent it from continuing to harm the world. You can rest assured on that point.”

“…” Even so, Artoria felt it was a bit eerie and absurd.

Those driven mad by the Beast, and those killed, were still fresh in her mind.

“…” Mia shook her head gently.

Even though she had known for a long time that the Beast of Comparison would become Merlin’s familiar.

But… how should I put it?

I can’t help but feel like we’re letting it off too easy.

My reasoning was the same as Artoria’s.

The moment I closed my eyes, the images of those innocent people lying in pools of blood, betrayed by those they trusted, remained vividly etched in my mind.

However, just as Merlin said, turning Cath Palug into his Familiar was the safest course of action.

No one knew if defeating Cath Palug completely would cause the humanitys evil it represented to manifest elsewhere in a different form, causing even greater devastation.

“If this truly is the optimal solution, then so be it,” Mia sighed.

She looked at the small creature in Merlin’s hands.

Suddenly, she couldn’t bring herself to like it at all.

Perhaps this was the true face of a Beast.

“Don’t be sad,” Merlin comforted her. “Regardless, this counts as a good thing. If sacrificing a few can save the many, it must be the right choice, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Perhaps?”

Mia said.

Hearing such righteous rhetoric, Mia could only feel helpless.

“…” Cath Palug, held in Merlin’s hands, gradually began to wake up.

Consequently, the magician’s gentle cupping motion changed to a firm grip on the scruff of its neck.

“Fou…”

Cath Palug was still very weak.

Merlin held it up, dangling it before his eyes with a beaming smile, giving it a little shake. “From now on, you’re my Familiar.”

“Fou?!”