Tomie and I pondered how to remove the combat uniform from the corpse, but we couldn't find any fasteners such as zipper buttons, as if the clothes were formed directly against the curves of the body. So the only way to do it now is to turn the corpse to ash.

"This guy ...... Can it turn into greystone? ”

"Want to try it?"

Since only the Goat Guild soldiers who take the graystone preparation "Paradise" can turn into graystone, then the demonic messenger who has been in direct contact with graystone for a long time should also be able to do it, and maybe if this corpse is left for a long time, he will become a zombie or an even more powerful monster.

Originally, I thought that the magic pattern was transferred by "turning the corpse of the demon pattern messenger into gray stone and using it", but Tomie obtained the magic pattern the moment he killed the masked man, but it seems that the magic pattern is manipulated by some invisible will, and it does not belong to the magic pattern messenger completely.

In retrospect, in the diary, the key to obtaining the magic pattern is indeed "passing the test" and "gaining the appreciation of the agent of doom" is very subjective. Father Sissen's statement that "those who kill the messenger of the magic pattern will get the magic pattern" also vaguely reveals the flavor of "the magic pattern is a reward".

Since it is a subjective reward, the ownership of the magic pattern naturally belongs to the rewarder.

Doomsday agents are literally just agents, so whose agents are they?

At that moment, when I looked back and saw the footprints of my destiny, I already realized that this world really has some decisive force, which makes people always move forward and cannot go back, no matter whether it is suffering or happiness ahead. I'm in awe of it. If there is any will that holds this power, it must be called a "god" or a "demon."

Whatever it is, it is an incomprehensible existence. It's like playing a board game, writing the script, making the map, dropping the puppet, throwing out the sieve, and deciding the end of the story.

The end of the apocalypse.

Such speculations swirled in my head.

Can I really change this predetermined outcome? The excitement at the beginning of the game was long gone, and the dream of becoming a hero had become narrow, and I saw the road getting narrower and narrower, buried in the darkness ahead, with no exit in sight.

Even so, it cannot and cannot be retreated.

Tomie stretched out his hand and held this position for a moment, then he saw the man's body collapse inward, gray smoke coming out of the collar, cuffs, and trouser tubes, and the close-fitting clothing drying up. The vortex of gray mist condensed in Tomie's palm, eventually turning into a crystal.

I read that right, it's crystal, not greystone. Although the appearance is gray and dull, it has clear water chestnuts and a sense of transparency unique to crystals. This form was mentioned once in the diary, and it was a demon core dug up from the C-class monster "Horned Monster". However, this crystallization formed by the condensation of the corpse of a C-class demon pattern messenger is still somewhat different from the magic core, it takes on a fairly regular polyhedral shape.

The gray crystal, almost the size of a fist, could be seen inside as a gray flame-like substance, agitating like a heartbeat.

It is like giving birth to life, a kind of immature and weak, but full of vitality of beauty.

"This is the core of the Demon Emringer...... Tomie seemed to be attracted by this beauty, like a woman who sees the most charming jewel in the world, and mutters in fascination.

I felt the same feeling almost at the same time as her.

A man who entered the apocalyptic realm and became a messenger of the magic pattern in the midst of birth and death. He was fascinated by this otherworldly power and seemed to be guided by fate. He walked in his own destiny, he had failures and pains, he had triumphs and joys, and he may have lost his closest people, he lost his human ethics, and even then he would never look back. He buried some of his emotions and gradually became stronger, where he continues to this day.

Just today, like a blooming flower that is bound to wither, he ushered in his own death, but as if he was not dead, all his essence was condensed into this life-like crystal.

I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I think that's the truth.

This is the end of the Demonic Emissary.

Once again, I am reminded of the prayer of the goats' union:

Flesh and blood are like grass and trees, and glory is like an epiphany;

The grass will wither, and the flowers will wither;

But death is not the end, just as the truth endures forever.

Tomie suddenly did something that surprised me. She opened her mouth and swallowed the crystallization of life. Although it is not such a terrible thing to ingest limestone, the strange appearance of this limestone crystal is such that I can't imagine anyone eating it like this.

It's like eating a "person".

"You...... Really ate it? ”

"Of course, it tastes good." Tomie licked his lips in satisfaction, and for a moment, I had the illusion that those red lips were exceptionally fresh.

"Taste?" I can't understand it. Most of the time I use Greystone is absorbed by magic patterns, but it's not like I've never eaten Greystone, and that kind of thing doesn't have a "taste" at all.

"That's not about taste." Tomie seemed to understand my doubts and explained, "It was a feeling that penetrated the cells of my body, and it was extremely tender and delicious, slippery and chewy. ”

I grinned and inhaled the air.

"It's like eating souls."

"That's right." Tomie was very pleased with this description, "It is the feeling of eating the soul." ”

I was silent for a long time.

"I have a bad premonition." I stared at the magic pattern on my wrist: "This thing isn't just a powerful engine...... I don't know what will become of us even if we survive to the extreme. ”

People eat gray stones, become zombies or even monsters when they die, and after they are killed, they turn into gray stones again and are eaten by other people, and everything that extends from the apocalyptic fantasy to reality is like this.

In this cycle, the greystone changes, and it becomes more and more pure. It is as if after filtration and compression, it gradually leaves clear crystals.

And what people do in this process is like a temporary container. By killing, the amount of force contained in the gray stone is purified. And the most efficient is the Demonic Emissary.

"It doesn't matter, no matter what becomes, we'll be together, won't we?" Tomie's rhetorical question was a categorical affirmative tone.

"Yes, no matter what happens, we will always be together." ,

I picked up the battle suit on the ground, and my heart was filled with emotion.

This pulse-beating emotion was hidden deep after going downstairs.

After that, there was no further disruption to the trip. Tomie took me back to my neighborhood, and on the road I saw that the fire on the floor had been turned off, leaving only a black skeleton that should not have anything left in it. The police, fire brigade and crowd of onlookers had dispersed, with only the occasional look of passers-by in astonishment.

And my troubles are probably just beginning.

Because he had a big fight with the pursuer, which caused a very bad effect, he could no longer turn to the police for help. After the house burned down, there was nothing left and the parents could not be contacted. In this familiar city, I can't help but feel a lonely emotion like autumn wind and falling leaves, as if my roots have been broken at this moment.

The only thing left is Tomie around him.

"I had to contact my parents by email."

"Can't you call?"

"They don't have phone numbers, and they've always only been contacted by letter."

"I really don't know what they will think after knowing these things." Tomie said in a gloating tone.

"I guess it's going to be funny. You may complain about why you haven't caught up. ”

“…… If that's the case, it's worthy of Ah Chuan's parents. Tomie thought earnestly, "Maybe they will be able to accept me as Agawa's wife." ”

"Ahh Wife? I stammered and repeated, even though we were very close, but I never thought of the word.

Others may have thought it strange and unimpressed, but I was taken aback by Tomie's sudden words.

"Since it is intended to be united forever, it is natural to date on the premise of becoming husband and wife, isn't marriage a ritual that completes this meaning?" Tomie gave me a strange look.

"Oh, oh......" I was speechless.