Chapter 197: Is This the Price for Power? It Hurts So Much!
Everyone except Ryohei Tanaka was stunned. Seriously, you're just going to cry like that? Her mental fortitude was way too weak. So fragile!
Even Poporon and Pekola were taken aback, staring at Pino with blank, dot-like eyes.
"Sigh... the angels these days are really not what they used to be," Jashin-chan said, crossing her arms and sighing dramatically.
Yurine turned her head and gave her a look. "From what position are you qualified to say that?"
"I... It's come to this, I have no choice!" Pino wiped her tears with her sleeve, sniffled, and got up from the floor.
She looked at Poporon and Pekola. A shadow fell over her face as she clenched her small fists and revealed a dark smile. "Poporon, Lady Pekola, let's form an alliance! We'll fight Heaven's pursuers together, and then... we'll find a way to kill the Lord!"
"As long as I become the new Lord, everything will be fine!"
"How can you have such a traitorous thought!" Pekola's eyes went wide, and she leaped up from the sofa in shock. She was completely loyal to the Lord, unlike these other two traitors!
"Are you insane? How could we possibly kill the Lord!?" Poporon gasped. She gave Pino a look that said, 'You really dream big.' She immediately followed up, "And why should you be the new Lord? A useless angel who got knocked out by Jashin-chan in one punch isn't qualified! I can laugh at you for that for the rest of my life!"
"—Poporon!" Pino shrieked, furious. She clenched her fists and glared at Poporon, trembling with rage.
"Hey, the way you said that..." Jashin-chan's expression soured. She looked at Poporon with narrowed eyes. "Is getting knocked out by me in one punch supposed to be that shameful?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Poporon retorted with the same deadpan expression.
"..." Jashin-chan was about to say something, but just then, a familiar notification sound rang in her head. It was followed by a feeling of being buffed several times over, filling her with motivation.
Jashin-chan froze, her eyes widening in pleasant surprise. "I leveled up!"
"Wow! You give a lot of experience! We should 'exchange pointers' more often in the future!" Jashin-chan got up, walked over to Pino, and patted her on the shoulder happily.
Useless angel? Wrong! This is an experience pack!
"Don't touch me!" Pino snapped, slapping Jashin-chan's hand away. She backed up a few steps, watching her warily. She desperately wanted to kill this demon who had brought her such humiliation, to tear her limb from limb. But, she needed her power for what was to come, and she couldn't beat Jashin-chan at the moment. She could only add this to her mental list of grievances to be settled later.
"Eh? So cold," Jashin-chan said with a shrug, tilting her chin up, unfazed.
"..."
'That snake scum actually leveled up!' Ryohei thought, looking at the smug Jashin-chan in surprise. On second thought, she had defeated a proper angel and eaten her halo. Leveling up from that seemed pretty normal. He just wondered if this time she would get the potion that could turn her tail into legs...
Just as Ryohei was pondering this, a "poof" sound came from beside him. He turned his head and saw a small, ten-centimeter-tall, monster with one large purple eye and a cute, chibi-like appearance materialize in the living room.
"Oh, it's Little One-Eye! Long time no see!" Jashin-chan sensed its arrival, turned around, and waved in greeting.
"Long time no see, Lady Jashin-chan!" The monster, named Little One-Eye, was holding a purple potion. It waddled over on its short legs and respectfully offered the potion. "Congratulations on returning to level 47. This is a gift from Lord Satan!"
"Ooh, what is it...?" Jashin-chan took the potion with a smile, then suddenly froze. Her eyes went wide with disbelief. "Wait a minute! What do you mean returning to level 47!? When did I lose levels!?"
"You didn't know?" Little One-Eye looked confused. "When you are defeated by a human, you lose a portion of your experience as a penalty, and your level drops... You've been defeated by humans too many times..."
"You bastard! Yurine, this is all your fault!" Jashin-chan instantly spun around and glared at Yurine with pure indignation. "Do you have any idea how much time and effort it takes me to gain one level!?"
"My fault? You're the one who started it," Yurine said, taking an elegant sip of her tea, refusing to take the blame.
"You've started fights with me, too!" Jashin-chan slithered over until she was looming over Yurine, glaring down at her.
"..." Yurine met her gaze for a few seconds, then wordlessly turned her head and looked somewhere else.
"Alright, alright, what's past is past. Let's look to the future," Ryohei quickly stood up to play peacemaker.
Poporon covered her mouth, giggling with schadenfreude.
"...Damn you, Yurine!" Jashin-chan muttered angrily. She turned back to Little One-Eye, held up the potion, and asked, "This thing?"
"It is a potion to increase your strength!" Little One-Eye replied respectfully.
"Ohoho, I see!" A sinister smile spread across the snake-scum's face. If she drank this, she might just be able to defeat Yurine! She didn't want to kill Yurine anymore, but she was going to pay her back for all the suffering. She was just that petty.
"Well then... my mission is complete. Farewell!" Little One-Eye gave Jashin-chan a salute and then, with a BOOM, self-destructed to leave.
"Little One-Eye..." Jashin-chan mournfully wiped away a non-existent tear. She looked down at the potion in her hand, opened it without hesitation, and an overpowering stench—worse than surströmming—instantly filled the room.
"Yueck—!"
Jashin-chan, being at ground zero, dry-heaved. She held the potion at arm's length, turned her head, and pinched her nose. "So smelly! Can this thing really be drunk?"
"It stinks—!" Poporon, Pekola, and Pino all shrieked in horror, pinching their noses and scrambling away from Jashin-chan.
Ryohei quickly got up, held his breath, and rushed to the central air control panel to turn on the ventilation function. The smell was unbearable! He had never smelled anything so foul in his entire life.
"Jashin-chan, if you're going to drink it, drink it! If not, put the cap on and take it back to your room!" Yurine commanded, pinching her nose with a look of utter disgust. She couldn't stand the smell either.
"I know, I know." Jashin-chan held her breath and looked at the purple potion with dread. She squeezed her eyes shut, tilted her head back, and chugged the entire thing.
"GACK—!"
'It tastes even worse than it smells!' Jashin-chan clutched her mouth, her face turning green, then pale. She began to roll around on the floor, dry-heaving violently.
'Is this the price for power? It hurts so much!'
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