Temptation

"A Devil..." The three siblings stared blankly at the boy in front of them, murmuring.

"What, you don't believe me?" Yuri raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers. "Griffon, come out and say hello."

"Coming, buddy!"

As soon as Yuri finished speaking, a large, faintly glowing blue-black bird suddenly flew out of his chest.

The bird perched on the boy's shoulder and raised a wing at them. Opening his three-part, split beak full of jagged teeth, he spoke in a human voice. "Yo, how are you?"

"!!!!!"

In an instant, the three siblings shrank back into the corner in fright.

"Sis... sis..."

"M-Mira..."

Elfman's teeth chattered nonstop, while Lisanna clutched her older sister's left hand.

"D-don't be scared. I'm here..." Even though Mirajane was trembling all over herself, she still did her best to reassure her younger brother and sister.

"Relax, relax. Griffon's very tame." Seeing the three of them looking ready to shake themselves apart, Yuri raised a hand and stroked Griffon's feathers, as if to prove his point.

"Yes, I don't usually eat people... unless I run into triplets with tasty flesh." As Griffon spoke, he suddenly swooped in front of the three siblings, opened his beak wide, and stuck out three long, slender blue tongues.

"Waaah—"

Elfman and Lisanna screamed in fright, only for a pair of smooth wings to suddenly cover their mouths.

The next second, Griffon's grating voice, like that of a demon from hell, sounded softly in their ears. "I especially like eating children who cry a lot..."

"Mmph!"

The younger siblings hurriedly shut their mouths, but tears kept streaming down like waterfalls.

"Bastard, stay away from them!" Mirajane, who had been frightened too, snapped back to her senses. She raised the right hand she had kept hidden in her cloak and swung it angrily at Griffon.

The strange fist struck forward, but Griffon flapped his wings and flew backward, easily dodging it.

At the same time, Yuri flashed forward, appearing in front of Mirajane in an instant and grabbing the arm she was trying to pull back.

"Don't be nervous. I told you, you're just like us. We're all Devils. We're companions."

"That's nonsense! I'm not a Devil!" Mirajane struggled desperately to pull her arm free, but he was far too strong. She couldn't budge him at all.

"Is that so? But if you're not a Devil, then what's this?" The sight of the girl struggling desperately made Yuri's lips curl into a malicious smile, and he abruptly lifted Mirajane up.

An arm unlike that of an ordinary person was exposed to the air, laid bare beneath the "sunlight."

Skin like withered tree bark extended all the way to her elbow, and round orbs resembling purple eyeballs covered the back of her hand and her forearm.

There were also the sharp claws most characteristic of a devil. Every one of these features proclaimed that the arm was a true Devil Bringer.

"This! This is..."

Mirajane's defiant tone gradually weakened. In the face of absolute fact, there was no point in arguing.

"Have you got anything else to say?" Yuri asked playfully.

"I..." Mirajane lowered her head, unable to say anything.

The secret she had always tried to hide was laid bare, and she was forced to remember the trauma she had deliberately ignored.

Her bloody flesh and the vulnerability hidden beneath her strength were exposed without reserve.

"Don't be so dejected." Seeing the girl's spirits sink to rock bottom, Yuri smiled and coaxed her. "There's nothing wrong with a Devil's power. For example... don't you want revenge on those villagers outside who drove you out?"

"Revenge?" Mirajane's eyes flickered. Before this, she had never thought about such a thing.

"That's right, revenge!"

Yuri seized the chance to lead her on. "You drove the Devil back for the sake of the whole village, yet this is how they treated you. Don't you think that's unfair?"

"You're a hero, not a freak, much less a criminal! What gives them the right to treat you like this?"

Yuri's whispers lingered in her ears. As if by magic, they became a sharp sword that pierced Mirajane's heart in an instant.

The way everyone had driven them away and cursed them these past few days, the fearful looks they gave her as if she were a freak, the way she had been treated like a monster when she was a hero...

She gritted her teeth. All the grievances she had accumulated erupted in that instant, and countless negative emotions surged in as the "dam" collapsed, swallowing Mirajane whole.

That's right. What gives them the right? Just what gives them the right?!

What gives them the right to treat me like this?! I'm a hero! I drove the Devil back! I saved the entire village!!!

And what happened? Not only did those people want to drive me out, they wouldn't even give me a chance to explain.

Because of one arm? Or because we're orphans without parents...

At the thought of a certain possibility, Mirajane's eyes gradually dimmed. Yuri held out his hand at just the right moment, adding more fuel to the fire. "We're the same kind. I can help you, help you master this power and let you take revenge on the humans who bullied you."

"Revenge..."

Mirajane's eyes lit up again, but the light flickering in them was pitch-black, as if a flame were taking shape within, ready to burn everything to ashes in the future.

Under Yuri's calm gaze, she slowly held out her hand...

A person's heart was at its most vulnerable not when they had been wronged, nor when they had suffered injustice, but when, after experiencing it all and falling into despair, someone suddenly showed them concern...

That was exactly how things stood with Mirajane. The sudden understanding made it impossible for her to keep the taut string called "strength" from snapping with a bang.

And so, following Yuri's lead, she walked toward the abyss one step at a time.

"No! Mira isn't a Devil!!!" A roar that could pierce eardrums and reach straight into the mind suddenly exploded beside Mirajane's ear.

Her little sister's call brought him back to his senses and dispelled Yuri's temptation.

"Smack!"

Mirajane abruptly slapped Yuri's hand away.

"I refuse!"

"Nani?!"

Yuri leaned back in a tactical retreat, and Lisanna seized the chance to rush forward and shove the bad guy away from her sister.

Mirajane fell to the ground, as though waking from a dream. "Li... sanna?"

"It's me, Mira. It's Lisanna." Seeing Mirajane gradually come to her senses, Lisanna immediately burst into tears of joy.

But before she could rejoice for long, Yuri's voice came again. "Well done. You actually managed to come to your senses while under the influence of my magic."

"Influence... of your magic?" Mirajane frowned in confusion.

"I just used a little magic to stir up the Devil's power inside you and speed up your transformation into a Devil, that's all," Yuri explained. "Didn't I tell you before? I want to invite you to join us."

Mirajane stood with Lisanna's help and said coldly, "Well, I'm terribly sorry to have ruined your plan."

"Yes, this really is troubling." Yuri rubbed his chin, pondering. "What should I do? I don't like forcing people."

Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind. "How about this? Offer yourself as a bargaining chip in exchange for your family living a peaceful life. What do you say?"

"What do you mean?!" With her precious family involved, Mirajane's tone immediately turned fierce.