Chapter 392

"They said you almost overthrew a country." Kocho Shinobu spoke up, breaking the dull atmosphere in the room, "Because you only lent your wisdom, not unconditionally satisfying the endless desires of mankind like the other person."

"After all, I lend my wisdom under certain conditions." William took off his hat and looked at Shinobu Kocho who was still adjusting the poison ratio. "I will not lend my wisdom to oppressors or those who only seek their own interests. But I am curious why she asked me to come to see you - because you obviously don't need my wisdom."

"You are already planning your own revenge, aren't you?"

——Rise up and fight! Kill them all! Kill all those bad nobles!

"What do you mean?" Butterfly Shinobu raised her eyes to look at William and asked vigilantly.

"I'm a criminal consultant." William sighed with a smile, thinking back to his life, "The so-called lending of wisdom is just providing those who seek help with crime plans that are sufficient to solve the problem. For people with similar experiences as you, it is a plan to kill your enemies."

"But you already have your own plan, and you're implementing it—"

"But time is running out." Shinobu Kocho stopped what she was doing and answered William with her eyes lowered. "Based on the speed of your actions in the Flower Street, this mission will also be over very quickly - I no longer have time to continue improving the poison and increasing its toxicity."

"You will kill that devil soon - and I am not even allowed to appear on the battlefield this time."

"...Ah, so that's how it is." William looked at the butterfly-shaped haori on Shinobu Kocho and recalled what happened in New York, USA. "Well, I have a proposal, Miss Butterfly - are you interested in making a deal with the witch? Your wish is not within the scope of what I, a criminal consultant, can handle, but if it is her, I think no one has the right to refuse you the right to participate in this battle."

"...Witch?"

"Ah, any greedy wish is fine - but only if you pay the price."

"Price?"

"The essence of a contract is equal exchange - and the dead also have value to us." William opened the paper sliding door and walked out with his back to Butterfly Shinobu. "Before I leave the Butterfly House, if you have made up your mind - please tell me."

However, something unexpected happened to Kiara, who left first.

"...That ghost was not wrapped in the love of the Killing House." Lansemello's voice came into William's ears through the earphones. "Although the Killing House even has a record of successfully devouring the Jie faction, that was done by her when she almost completely transformed into Beast III/R. Now she can't dissolve intelligent creatures that can't perceive emotions."

"I understand." William, who was standing by the pond in the courtyard, blinked and replied to Lansemero, "Since the action from the Patriarch has failed... then I have to take action in advance. I will teach those who are bewitched by the evil spirits how to obtain happiness with their own hands - by the way, as for the butterfly..."

"I can only give up, right? It's not something that needs to be recorded—" Lancer Melo paused and chuckled, "It seems that I am still quite lucky."

Shinobu Kocho stood in front of William.

"No matter what the price is - I must kill Upper String 2 with my own hands!!!"

"What a beautiful fire of revenge." Lansermello sighed softly, "I'm going to find Fujimaru to update the plan. I'll leave the Guardian's contract to you. I think you haven't forgotten it, right?"

"...Of course I haven't forgotten." William sighed, listening to Lansermello cut off the communication, and then repeated to Butterfly Shinobu the price required for the witch to fulfill her wish, "Then, Miss Butterfly - before you die, she will unconditionally provide you with enough power to fulfill all your wishes; and after you die, until the planet is destroyed, you will be busy as her guardian."

"…You have one last chance to regret."

"I will never regret it!!!"

Meanwhile, in Chaldea, Lancermello, who had hurried to join Fujimaru Ritsuka, saw a new branch growing on the World Tree.

"…Do you want to trim it, Deputy Director?" Fujimaru Ritsuka turned around and asked Lancermello.

"No need." Lansemello shook his head at Fujimaru Ritsuka and pointed out the time of the bifurcation with a smile, "This bifurcation exists based on the special point created by the Holy Grail. Although it will not disappear with the recovery of the Holy Grail, there is no need to prune it. In addition... I just picked up another "Guardian"."

"The pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps?" Fujimaru Ritsuka confirmed to Lancer Mello, while explaining his thoughts to him in a rambling manner, "I had thought about picking up the 'Guardians' before, but after looking around, I didn't find any suitable ones, so I originally planned to just let them become Heroic Spirits through the records - I didn't expect the deputy director to act so quickly."

"After all, William is an expert at recruiting people." Lancer Mello chuckled and introduced the new "Guardians" to Fujimaru Ritsuka, "The Insect Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kocho Shinobu - and the Flower Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kocho Kanae, who died long before we arrived. Shinobu is the "Guardian", and Kanae is the Heroic Spirit engraved according to Shinobu's records."

"After that, Okita and the others won't have to take on the task of killing Upper Rank 2. Shinobu Kocho's wish is to kill Upper Rank 2 with her own hands."

"As a 'Guardian', she has acquired enough power to kill Upper Rank 2."

"I see." Fujimaru Ritsuka smiled and nodded to Lancer Mello, then called Abe Haruaki, "Then let Lord Haruaki arrange other tasks for them - the Demon Slayer Corps happens to have a team training right now, so they can go over and help."

So, under the moonlight, William took Shinobu Kocho, who had just sold the ownership of her soul after her death, to check out the homes of all the ordinary people who needed to be lured away from Upper Moon Two.

"...The only chance for all these people to gather together is when we go to the Eternal Paradise Church." William stopped on the roof and fell into deep thought, "It is not an easy task to incite these fanatics to no longer believe in Upper String Two - after all, the teachings of the Eternal Paradise Church will suppress the birth of the fire of revenge to a certain extent..."

"We can only look for some extremely evil people we can use."

"Use?" Shinobu Kocho asked William.

"Ah, I'm not a good person, Miss Butterfly." William smiled and answered Shinobu Kocho's question while reasoning about the situation nearby. "What I mean by exploiting is to let this guy die after all his value is squeezed out - although I don't have the qualifications to judge others, at least the people who are exploited by me should not be innocent."

"First, we need to make these fanatics feel the danger - but this danger must come from someone who is much higher than them, or at least someone they dare not resist... Then, while their fire of revenge has not been extinguished by the doctrine, we need to provide them with a plan to incite them to kill those who persecute them."

"The sweetness of revenge is quite addictive."

"Wait a minute, then..." Butterfly held back her voice. She understood the implicit message behind the words "almost overthrew a country". "How did those people who consulted you before stop their revenge?"

"Because they paid me their lives as a reward for the commission." William answered Shinobu Kocho, jumping back to the ground from the roof lightly, "And all I ask of them is to see the new world where our country becomes better and live happily in that world."

"Because I wouldn't live to see that future - at least that's what I thought at the time."

"By the way, Miss Butterfly." William called out to Shinobu Kocho who was following him cautiously, and looked back at the Nichirin Sword she was holding tightly in her hand. "After I lead all the followers of the Eternal Paradise Cult away, can I leave the task of killing Upper Rank Two to you alone?"

"Huh?"

"Because of the contract, you will not really die before your wish is fulfilled - no matter how much you are injured, you can be healed." William explained the details of the contract to Kocho Ninja in detail. "Also, as a member of the 'Guardian' - although you are no different from ordinary people now, in front of Upper String Two, you will become very powerful."

"Enough to kill Upper Rank 2 all by himself."

"Why?" Butterfly asked William.

"Because the so-called 'Guardians' are the ones chosen by the 'Planet' and 'Humanity' to eliminate the factors that may cause the destruction of the world." William's expression became a little unhappy, "and in order to achieve this goal - what the 'Guardians' themselves become is not within the consideration of those two guys. Although the current situation is much better than the original time..."

"But her own bad taste is enough to make the "Protection of the Planet" feel irritated - even though our protection target is her."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." William sighed, opened the map in the Chaldea communicator and explained the specific action plan to Shinobu Kocho. "Tomorrow evening, I will take all humans away from the vicinity of Upper Rank Two - no matter what means. You will go to find Upper Rank Two at that time - his church base is over there."

"This is your battlefield tomorrow, is that ok?"

"No problem, I will definitely kill him." Shinobu Kocho replied to William, the gentle smile she usually had faded from her face, revealing the eternal fire of revenge burning in her heart.

When the sun rose the next day, another group of training for the Demon Slayer Corps began.

"Alright." Abe Haruaki reached out and brushed off the dust on Okita-kun and Okita-san. "The Yin-Yang technique has been lifted. You should not be feeling any obvious discomfort, right?"

"Yes, there is nothing wrong with our bodies now." Ms. Okita nodded to Abe Haruaki and glanced at the two swords hanging on her waist. "Come to think of it, why don't we go to Upper Rank 2? No one in Chaldea has the Sun Blade, and they don't know the Breathing Technique, right?"

"Although the Paradise Fairy can't come in person, didn't her proxy, the 'Guardian', arrive last night?" Abe Haruaki raised his eyelids impatiently, "A new 'Guardian' has been born. Yes, just like what Taigong Wang did to Tamamonomae - the new 'Guardian' is a guy who specializes in fighting the Upper String Two. No one is more suitable than her to fight the Upper String Two."

"It is unforgivable to prevent a vengeful person from killing his enemy in a rage."