Chapter 151: Fuck Logic!

Every step I took on the black flames felt like it seared straight through my soul. All the training I’d done to resist pain suddenly felt useless. I was just a kid again, staring at his first fresh wound.

You want the girl to live, right?

Beelzebub’s voice echoed through the void, clear and inescapable, even though his mouth never moved.

Fiona? T-1? My students…

How many have I lost by now? How many have I let die because of my own incompetence? Fiona was the last straw.

[Photographic Memory]

She was my last and longest student, the one who survived mission after mission without losing her brightness, no matter how dark the job got.

The one who broke my monotony.

Was she even just a student anymore?

[Photographic Memo—ERROR

S-Shut up…

[Photogra—ERROR

I said shut up!

[Photographic Memory]

No. By then, she was my partner. The one who broke through my walls and my disassociation from the world. The one who, even if only for a while, pulled me out of the Crown of Thorns. My…

My first real Evelina…

I bit my lower lip. My mind made me feel the pain, even if this wasn’t my physical body. I’d gone through worse.

Some pathetic flames weren’t going to stop me from getting what I wanted.

I clenched my fist and sprinted. The moment I moved, the path stretched further, Beelzebub’s form shrinking the faster I ran.

But that didn’t matter. I’d already made up my mind. I had to reach him. Even if my heart was with Evelina now, I could still try to make up for my mistake in the past.

To save someone who reminded me of her.

Even if I knew it wasn’t directly my fault, who the fuck cares about logic at this point? Why would I care that it wasn’t my fault she chose this line of work?

It doesn’t matter!

ssst!

ssst!

ssst!

The sound of fire melting and searing flesh had become background noise as I kept sprinting. It didn’t matter if the destination was unreachable. There’s no such thing as impossible if you’re stubborn enough.

I mean, I got transmigrated into another world. Who’s to say I can’t bypass infinity?

[DIE!]

Phantoms suddenly appeared along the sides of the flaming path, each one running toward me at the same speed, perfectly mirroring my movements.

Were they regrets? Versions of me? Or just plain generic bad guys in the way of my happy ending?

Again… who cares!?

“Don’t get in my way, you bastards!”

I kicked the first one in the groin, grabbed it by the shoulder, and threw it behind me. Next, I punched one straight in the throat, making it stumble backward.

I didn’t bother finishing them off. I wasn’t even sure I could. That wasn’t my priority anyway.

I needed to sprint, not fight—just sprint!

Each step peeled something off through the pain: pride, discipline, detachment. The calm mask I’d worn for years burned away layer by layer until only the ugly core remained.

Regret.

Even mental training was nothing when faced with sheer soul-rending pain from mythical fire.

“Stop running!” I snarled, not even sure who I was yelling at anymore. “Face me, you bastard!”

Beelzebub didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.

The path split.

One lane burned hotter, darker, the flames almost black-purple, crackling with something like annihilation. The other burned lower and steadier—controlled.

The throne loomed closer.

No. I was shrinking.

Choose.

The hotter path roared with power—immediate, absolute, and far closer to Beelzebub’s throne—yet it came at a terrible cost: sheer, unimaginable pain that would probably make me pass out.

The steadier path pulsed faintly: control, patience, and stability.

I didn’t slow down. I didn’t hesitate.

Who the hell would choose the second option!?

“Give me everything,” I said hoarsely. “I’ll pay it.”

The moment my foot touched the darker flames—

CRACK.

Something inside my chest split open.

The fire didn’t burn anymore. It sank in—not around me, but into me.

The phantoms rushing at me ignited, screaming as they dissolved before they could reach my skin. The path stopped stretching.

For the first time, it shortened.

Beelzebub leaned forward on his throne, chin resting against his knuckles. His vast, ancient eyes finally acknowledged me as something more than an insect crawling toward him.

Something more than just a pawn he could manipulate and use as his champion. An equal, and a soul that even hell would appreciate.

Come then, child.

My entire body burst into flames at the sound of his words, not just searing my feet anymore, but consuming me from head to toe.

My speed faltered the moment I felt the fire.

But…

That didn’t stop me. I couldn’t let it stop me.

I kept running. Even if I was slower now, that didn’t mean I was finished. It just meant the reward would be far greater than I’d imagined.

Why else would I be given this much pain for choosing this path?

No pain, no gain.

The flames climbed higher.

They didn’t just burn—they dug. Like talons sinking beneath skin that didn’t exist, prying open seams in my soul I didn’t know were there.

Memories spilled out.

Beijing.

Gunfire.

A blindfold.

A trembling voice calling me “sir.”

CRACK.

Another fracture.

I stumbled, but didn’t fall.

The fire filled the cracks instead of widening them. It poured into every weakness, every hollow space I’d carved out to survive.

Discipline.

Cold logic.

Detachment.

They were defenses that came up when the Crown of Thorns wasn’t enough for me to cope with reality.

In short, they were defenses filled with holes.

And the flames were eager to occupy them. I could feel my speed getting even slower the moment they did.

B-but…

Nathan!

Her voice—T-1… no, Trish’s voice. I’m not letting this happen again. Even if Fiona only acted a little like her, even if our situation only barely resembled Beijing, I wouldn’t let that stop me from settling this stupid regret that had been holding me back without me even realizing it.

I’m going to face it—and that starts with making a deal with a demon prince for the second time.

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