episode_0302

My body feels light. The sensation in my hands and feet feels incredibly distant, and I slowly rise toward the heavens.

I abandon my physical form and fly far away. Birds brush against my skin, and clouds tickle my cheeks. The wind continuously pushes me onward.

I didn’t actually feel those sensations. I couldn’t hear any sounds, nor could I smell anything. It was simply the sight before my eyes that made me feel that way.

As I soared endlessly upward, I reached the realm of the stars. Tiny sparkles are hidden throughout the dark night sky. Every time I find a sparkle, I feel incredibly warm and comfortable.

The stars I saw from Earth were not all there were. Here, stars flowed like a river. Some stars blazed as brightly as the sun, and others stretched endlessly like the earth and sea.

A star-filled universe. I feel incredibly warm and comfortable. I wanted to drift along the Milky Way for the rest of my life.

Was it because I made a wish on a star? This comfortable space journey continued for quite a long time. Sometimes, I used my fluttering hair as a pillow and slept soundly, and sometimes I woke up startled by starlight as intense as morning sunlight.

Then, at one moment, I encountered a black star that sucked in all the light in the universe.

The black star was a seeker, a conqueror, and a destroyer. It advanced on its own, seized the light, gathered and consumed it, and ultimately shattered everything, scattering only darkness.

My body trembled. No, it wasn’t my body. Since I had now freed myself from my physical form and was freely wandering the universe, it was my soul itself that trembled.

The black star devours light. The stars of the universe go out one by one, and soon only pitch black remained around me.

It was cold and lonely. My empty soul longed for something. In the repeating time, I unconsciously reached out my hand, but there was nothing to touch in the void.

I want it. Life, gentle warmth, and light.

My clear and pure soul was devoured by the darkness. Therefore, something else is needed. Instantly, a black tentacle shot up from somewhere on my body.

It seeks out and devours light. Warm light that fills my being. Once I consumed it, my longing grew even greater.

In desiring light, I became darkness. Eve, who became the black star, began to indiscriminately devour all the light in the universe.

. . .

Flicker-

As if waking from a good dream, Eve rubbed her eyes and got up. Something wet was on her hand.

Her blurry vision returned to normal, and Eve realized it was crimson blood.

She looked around. Corpses riddled with holes were strewn everywhere. Most of them were Moriarty’s soldiers. She also saw people dressed in expensive clothes here and there. One of them was the Emperor of the Empire.

They all had large holes in the center of their chests. Their hearts were torn to shreds as if a beast had bitten them.

“What happened…”

She muttered to herself as if she were interested, but in reality, she didn’t care if tens of thousands of such trash died. Eve raised her hand again. Then she was slightly startled.

‘That’ wasn’t her hand. She mistook something for her hand. The movement was natural, as if it had been part of her body for a very long time.

She wiggled the black tentacle and brought it to her mouth.

“Haaah…”

She yawned languidly, rubbing her eyes with another tentacle. She stretched, twisting another tentacle, and, dragging her stiff body, got up from her seat.

Thud- Thud-

The leftover pieces of heart and the blood spilled out. Eve’s surroundings were a mess. Like a child’s room after playing with toys and falling asleep.

With not a thread of clothing on, she headed towards a bright and warm place. In the center of the room, a naked man was in a large, glass test tube.

“Slept well, Adam?”

She embraced the test tube with dozens of tentacles. As she pressed her body close and rubbed against it, her chest and skin brushed against each other, staining the glass walls of the test tube with crimson blood.

“You’re such a sleepyhead.”

Even with this childish affection and physical contact, he hadn’t woken up yet. How tired must he have been?

Thinking that, Eve extended a tentacle to the floor. The tentacle acted as a foot, lifting her body into the air, soon bringing her to eye level.

She pressed her lips against Adam’s sleeping face—or rather, the glass of the test tube reflecting his face. A bright red kiss mark was imprinted as if burned by fire.

“I’ll take you out of there soon… Just wait a little longer.”

Eve smiled softly and rubbed her cheek against the test tube. She felt good because her stomach was full and her body was warm.

Clap clap clap-

The sound of unwelcome applause shattered that moment of simple happiness. Eve unconsciously shot out one tentacle.

Slash-!

A blade of blood that sprouted from the ground cut her tentacle in half. The tentacle never reached the unwelcome guest.

“Really… You’ve really gone insane.”

“Why did you come? I told you not to interrupt my time.”

“I never heard anything like that… Well, let me apologize first.”

Duke Darius bowed his head. Eve sighed softly and came back down to the floor.

She reduced the size of her tentacles and wrapped them around her body. The black tentacles wrapped around her body, becoming a black dress.

“I never knew you could control the power of the demon so well. I’m even regretting hesitating with the ritual.”

“Shut up. If you want to lament, do it alone in your room. Or should I kill you?”

“Kuk… I apologize again. I don’t want to bother you… but do you know what day it is?”

“I don’t know. What day is it?”

Duke Darius said nothing, only smiled and left Eve’s room. He gestured for her to follow. Eve suppressed her annoyance and followed him outside.

A vast space spread out before her. Fortress’s underground space, the hangar. Huge vessels were lined up there. Tanks and airships were also densely packed. It was the world’s best mechanized legion, a fusion of Moriarty’s capital and the Empire’s technology.

The number of infantrymen lined up in formation in the square was also enormous. To Eve, they looked like tiny dots. She probably couldn’t count them all even if she stayed up all night.

“Why are you all gathered here? Is there a festival?”

“Your joke is funny. Today is the day we will end everything, isn’t it?”

“Ah… so it’s already today.”

While dreaming of devouring light, she indiscriminately devoured humans. She repeated sleeping and waking, so her sense of time had long since become vague.

But she knew for certain what she had to do. Just in time, Duke Darius knelt down and paid his respects.

“Our Emperor, please give your command.”

“Yes… a command. I must give a command.”

Eve walked onto the platform. All the soldiers looked up at her standing impossibly high. Their eyes held a half-crazed reverence.

But in Eve’s eyes, they were merely snacks. Even though she had clearly filled her belly, she was still hungry.

She stroked her hungry stomach and came to her senses.

“Yes… let’s see. I, the Emperor of Ubiet, Iverista Termina Ubiet, command…”

She and Duke Darius had previously discussed the meaning and purpose of the war. They would raise an army, attack Nifrantz, deal with Princess Narita, and use the countless souls lost in that war as ingredients for the demon’s descent.

She just had to recite what the Duke had prepared. But the words she had to say wouldn’t come to mind. What did it matter, anyway? Eve simply curled up the corners of her mouth.

“Kill them all.”

Pierce, slash, and pierce their hearts and bring them as a meal for the beast. The wave containing her will spread throughout the entire hangar.

The Magi reacted, and a majestic momentum surged. All the soldiers raised their weapons and shouted.

“Ubiet, arise—!!”

“May blessings be upon this land forever—!!”

“Long live Her Imperial Majesty—!!”

Black heat swirled. Its nature was Magi, the aura of the demon. The aura that craves, consumes, and ultimately destroys… was directed at one place.

The battlefield, the Kingdom of Nifrantz.

* * *

“…Sister.”

I opened my eyes to Yuri’s voice. I was sitting cross-legged on the bed, meditating.

“Yes, what?”

“…Are you alright?”

“What do you mean? Of course I’m fine.”

That explanation of “meditation” wasn’t quite right; Yuri’s intuition was too sharp. She had already noticed everything and had a worried expression.

What I did was a bit different than meditation. Unlike simple meditation, where you close your eyes and focus on your consciousness, I blocked quite a lot.

Sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. I cut off all sensations and suppressed my body. I stopped breathing and my heartbeat, leaving only consciousness.

My soul, rising without impurities, came to resemble something. A spiritual body, a controller, wandering the universe and controlling countless natural phenomena.

I recalled the memories of meeting those things and cutting them down with my sword. It seemed like something would appear if I did that. If I became a star myself, I thought I could reach a certain realm beyond human intellect.

From Nix, I heard that my mother met the World Tree Gaia. If I compare the timing, it was clearly shortly before she conceived me.

Even though she abandoned her existing authority by settling on this star, the World Tree was a controller with the power of life. I see the meeting with the controller as a major factor in my mother’s awakening.

I also met a controller. The light goddess Lumine, who warmly embraced all life. The observer who reincarnated me, Eve, and my mother on this star. The flow of countless controllers who taught me the truth of the world.

The conditions are already fulfilled within me. All that remains is a small piece of enlightenment… I performed soul meditation for that enlightenment, but the answer was still not visible.

Yuri hugged my body.

“…Don’t leave.”

“I’m here.”

“Just now, it felt like you had left.”

“Yuri… why are you so sensitive!”

Flop-

I lifted Yuri and laid her on the bed. I hugged her defenseless form tightly and shared each other’s warmth.

“Don’t worry. Everything will be alright.”

“…Yes. I only trust my sister.”

“You cute thing!”

The tightly hugged Yuri was so warm. It felt like a cold embrace filling up, somehow. I wanted to fall asleep like this and only have happy dreams forever.

But the wind blew. A very cold wind. A sharp wind heralding the end of winter swept across my skin.

I felt it. Eve is coming.