Ch.200Chapter 200. The Last Note

In any case, Merilyn Sutherland was showing signs of remorse.

Though conflict with Flandor might still be an issue, she had resolved to work through it over time.

If her apology to me was sincere, then the demons she brought with her wouldn’t harm us either.

“By the way, what happened during the past half year?”

But there were still several concerns lingering.

Even if it was partly a joke, when someone goes this far, there must be some truth behind it.

“Bringing a group of demons here… Does this mean you made contact with the Demon Lord’s army while I was away?”

She shook her head in response to my anxious question.

“It’s true that I left the Demon Lord’s army. However, I briefly had a chance to return to the Demon Lord, and during that process, I discovered these children and started bringing them along.”

“What do you mean by ‘chance’…?”

“Another of the Four Heavenly Kings like me… Do you remember that succubus?”

Yasmo Deus.

The one who attacked me and subsequently caused that horrific incident in the sanctuary.

“From what I’ve heard, she met a miserable end… How ironic. Even someone who served the Demon Lord for as long as I did met her final fate in this world.”

“Were you close friends?”

“Not at all.”

Her straightforward answer followed my tentative question.

The shrug that accompanied it confirmed that her words were genuine.

“I just find it bitter that old traces are disappearing one by one. In her case, I’m actually relieved that I won’t have to see her again.”

“…You’re quite merciless.”

“That’s what the Demon Tribe is like. Even if we have comrades or swear loyalty… if we decide something is no longer beneficial to us, it’s not strange to part ways or betray them.”

Despite spending time together, they discard others without hesitation when they no longer serve a purpose.

This applies to fellow demons, long-time companions, and even lords to whom they’ve sworn lifelong loyalty.

She was explicitly stating that this was the nature of the Demon Tribe, emphasizing that she herself was born with such instincts.

“Then…”

What about me?

Does this mean that for her, I’m also someone she maintains a relationship with out of necessity, someone she could turn her back on given the opportunity?

“Yes, I’ve already betrayed the Demon Lord.”

Merilyn continued speaking before I could voice my anxiety.

With her eyes closed and a hand on her chest, emotional whispers began flowing from her lips.

“That’s because he couldn’t fulfill what I desired. Having failed to realize my desires for such a long time, he fell into an eternal state of ennui, and I, who had sworn loyalty to him, merely reminisced about past glories while repeating meaningless journeys.”

Is she feeling guilty about betraying her lord, or lamenting that she can’t return to him?

Coincidentally, I couldn’t know her exact thoughts, but one thing was certain.

“So I was afraid.”

At this moment, the hand on her chest must feel her heartbeat, and that heartbeat stems from emotions directed at me.

“If he truly regained his power… I was afraid that this throbbing I feel for you would disappear.”

“…Merilyn.”

“I adore you.”

Despite her fear, she was determined to face it.

She claimed that she came back to me even after confronting her former lord because she wanted to be true to the beating of her heart.

“I’ve come to love you, the one who freed me from an eternal cycle. I want to believe that you, who cannot be replaced by anything in this world… are the most special existence to me.”

Despite being from a selfish race that could abandon camaraderie and loyalty.

As if firmly convinced that even someone like her could genuinely yearn for affection toward another.

“…Is that why you returned to the Demon Lord’s army?”

“I thought I needed to confirm it. I thought that if the day came when he rose again, I might betray you when I eventually encountered him.”

Her head gradually lifted as she revealed these sincere feelings, and her closed eyes slowly opened.

Her gaze shifted from me to the ceiling, toward the remnants of the past that existed beyond.

“…And when I saw him, I realized. The past is just the past.”

The unburdened whisper that followed had completely purged the anxiety she had expressed until now.

As if just confessing her feelings in this moment made her realize her wish had come true.

“It’s true that I achieved many things through him, but even if he rises again, it would only be temporary. Once the momentary pleasure ends, he would eventually return to how he was before, and continue repeating what happened previously.”

Yes, she is of the Demon Tribe.

Even if she swears true loyalty, it’s only possible because she believes the other will fulfill her desires.

Clinging to someone who can’t fulfill her desires only happens when there’s no alternative; if there is an alternative, there’s no need to cling to past glories.

“That’s why you became even more precious to me.”

And she had chosen me for that role.

She firmly believed that only I, who had liberated her from the cycle of dependence on the past, could take on that role.

“Just being together like this, having such a racing heart—you’re the only one who’s ever made me feel this way.”

Absorbed in this realization, her hand gradually reached out toward me, toward my hand hanging below.

And she pulled it to her chest… to the place where she had been feeling her own heartbeat, wanting to share that sensation with me.

“Can you feel it? My heartbeat.”

I could clearly feel the pounding from her.

I could sense how large the vessel of her heart truly was.

And because of that, I felt an increasing sense of pity toward her.

Despite being born of a race she believed incapable of awakening love, despite despairing over unrequited feelings across eternal time.

Eventually, after abandoning all her past, she had cultivated genuine love for me—yet the cruel reality was that I couldn’t consider her my first.

“I’m sorry, I…”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

She closed the distance between us, somehow pressing her lips against mine.

I didn’t reject that uninhibited embrace.

Although she couldn’t be my first, I truly loved her too, even though she might never have known she could be my first.

“Though I can’t be your first, I can at least try to be your last first.”

As if satisfied just feeling my heart, a smile gradually formed on her lips.

Afterward, she stepped back from me and continued with a resolute voice.

“To prove that I can be with you forever, I brought those children before you.”

“By children, do you mean the demons you brought?”

“Yes, specifically demons born in this world. Half-breeds between humans and the Demon Tribe… you could say.”

My body trembled involuntarily.

These words were quite unexpected to me.

Half-breeds? Can children really be born between demons and humans?

“You don’t need to look so strange. Demons can reproduce with any race.”

Merilyn smiled gently at my confusion, bringing both hands to her stomach as she continued.

“The Demon Lord’s army has traversed many dimensions following the Demon Lord, and in the process, they’ve increased their numbers by plundering residents of each dimension. Some for pleasure, some for breeding, some as sacrifices, or for experiments…”

The predatory instinct inherent in their nature.

Even their reproduction lacks any semblance of human ethics, yet her voice carried a bitterness when mentioning the demons she had brought.

“Those children are the same. They’re byproducts of lust, born from forcibly violating this world’s residents, pitiful beings born unwanted out of necessity.”

An emotion never shown by those who exploit others for their own benefit.

Displaying such emotion, she gazed intently at the hands on her stomach and asked me:

“Their situation would be similar to our child’s someday, wouldn’t it?”

“…A, a child?”

“Not yet, not yet…”

A regretful voice.

But even that didn’t last long.

Soon, an expectation that overturned even that regret began to form on her lips as she placed her hands on her stomach.

“But someday it will happen. If I continue my relationship with you.”

Someday having a child with me, watching that child grow before us…

She was filled with hope for her future, just imagining that moment bringing her happiness.

Unlike when she was fixated on the past and unfulfilled desires, she was now determined to achieve that happiness with her own hands.

“It’s not time yet, but when that time comes… I hope this world will become a place where our child can blend in.”

For the child that would be born from our union.

To open a future true to her desires with her own hands, abandoning the empty times when she was bound to the past.

“…What about you, Hyoseong?”

She gradually infused strength into her body.

That strength felt mighty, befitting her position as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, yet its flow was incredibly gentle.

And the form she took at the end of that transformation.

“Do you… dream of the same future as I do?”

Yes, what was revealed in this moment was the result of projecting the form she admired.

Seeing that familiar appearance, a clear smile began to form on my lips, just like hers.

“Yes, I…”

Yes, we were in love.

“I want to continue being with you, Merilyn.”

Rather, because of their selfishness, they truly yearned to be with the one who made their heart race…

That’s why they were both prepared to face their fears and even go beyond common sense.

“…I’m glad. That you feel the same way.”

From now on, we would bear that determination together.

She smiled with relief at that fact, then let out a bitter voice.

“But to achieve that, the Demon Lord must disappear from this world.”

The Demon Lord.

A being with the potential to destroy this world at any time. And the former lord to whom she had sworn loyalty until she met me.

“Can we really defeat the Demon Lord?”

Though I believed her desire to defeat such a being was genuine, her response was to shake her head—an answer I hadn’t expected at all.

“It’s impossible. For me.”

“…Was it a lie, then?”

“I can’t even imagine it. A way to defeat someone who has ruled as a conqueror across all dimensions… If such a method existed, he wouldn’t have fallen into ennui.”

These were the sincere words of someone who had been the Demon Lord’s closest aide.

Even now, I couldn’t begin to fathom the weight of those words.

“But if there’s a being that could be called a ‘god’…”

Yet she didn’t stop speaking, trying to continue the fading thread of her words.

What followed was the possibility that, though not by her hand, her former lord could be defeated.

“If there’s a being called a ‘god’ that descends from another world… there might be a possibility.”

“A god?”

“Yes, such a being is about to descend upon this world. And stimulated by that being’s power, the Demon Lord will head straight there. And everything present at that place will be ‘destroyed without a trace.'”

A god powerful enough to destroy everything, descending upon this land.

Even in a world where anything could happen, wasn’t this too absurd?

“So, Hyoseong.”

But her body had been trembling since mentioning that being, and that trembling was now transmitted through her hand clutching my clothes.

“Before he moves, let’s escape from here right now.”

“From here…? Is the Demon Lord coming here?”

“Even if he doesn’t come directly, the aftermath will spread beyond the empire. So as far away as possible… Yes, escaping across the sea would be good too. There might be dangers there as well, but it would be safer than facing the Demon Lord or a godlike being. If we can find a safe place afterward…”

“Wait, wait a moment, Merilyn. This is all too sudden.”

I restrained her as she grew increasingly excited, gripping her shoulders to calm her down.

Only then did she seem to realize she had lost her composure and closed her mouth.

Certainly, if the Demon Lord was about to move, it would be frightening, but there were still issues preventing me from following her advice.

“Irie is still in the imperial territory.”

Irie Haven.

A woman I love as much as the one before me now, but who I must consider my first because she came before.

I can’t help but think of her first in any situation, and what Merilyn was saying could be interpreted as Irie being in danger.

“So if this ‘god’ descends and the Demon Lord moves, putting the empire in danger, I need to go rescue Irie quickly…”

So even if we leave here, I need to return to the imperial territory first to bring her with us before the situation unfolds.

“Even if Irie doesn’t want that?”

Her interruption was something I hadn’t expected at all.

“…What do you mean by that?”

Doesn’t want it?

Danger is about to strike the empire, yet Irie doesn’t want to avoid it?

“Don’t say such nonsense. No matter how bad the relationship between you and Irie is, that’s…!”

“…It’s impossible after all.”

I was certain it was a lie.

Yet at this moment, her face bore a smile that looked ready to crumble, in stark contrast to when she had whispered her love to me.

“No matter how much I want to have you all to myself… no matter how much I want to forcibly stop you, I don’t want to be hated by you for it.”

“What are you talking about…”

“The note Tashian gave you, you still have it, right?”

The note.

A prophecy Irie had given to Tashian, which had been the most helpful item in cultivating our refuge.

[After joining with Merilyn, please lead the ark as far away from the empire as possible.]

When I hurriedly took out and unfolded the last note, I could see the following sentence written inside:

[And please forget about me. For the sake of being faithful to our respective missions…]

Something I never expected.

A farewell message written by the person I love.