Ch.28995. Collapse or Dominate (3)

Despite having my eyes wide open.

When I came to my senses, I found myself at a shoreline.

No. This is a valley.

Perhaps… it might have been a small garden plot.

Or a garden in bloom.

…Or somewhere on a battlefield filled with acrid smoke.

Ermina had to suppress an overwhelming sense of bewilderment.

How on earth.

“Since when…”

“Well, I wonder. Since when indeed?”

As she turned her head, there was a golden woman walking barefoot across the land overflowing with ash and smoke.

That venomous fang hidden within her brilliant beauty, that deadly poison.

That was her wicked essence.

“Just now? Or a moment ago? Or perhaps the distant past? Which would you prefer?”

“……”

Ermina half-opened her dark eyes, regarding her warily.

“What are you plotting?”

“Plotting? I have many schemes. Many indeed… but for you, it’s both misfortune and fortune coexisting.”

Fortunately enough.

“It seems Kariel has no intention of directly harming you.”

“……”

“Whereas I? Having been defeated, I don’t want to linger pathetically. This kind of petty aftermath… isn’t to my noble taste.”

“Already. The fact that you’re here having this conversation with me. This situation itself… is a nauseating nightmare for us… and you must know that.”

“Is that my fault? If you’re so upset, why not grab Kariel by the collar and slap him across the face?”

The golden figure cackled dramatically.

“Kariel is, if I must say, a good person. He has his own sense of justice. Plus, he’s altruistic. Irritatingly so.”

That’s why.

“Rather than settling his grudge against you, he was more concerned about the nameless masses who might be saved in the future by your usual conduct and actions. Those worthless beings worried him so much. Should I call it admirable or pathetic enough to deserve a scolding?”

“That’s…”

“He could have thrown tantrums or complained all he wanted. But, well, it was none other than you who disciplined him not to, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t you be proud? ‘Look how well he’s grown?’ A creature who can’t help but sacrifice for others even if he dies or suffers until his insides rot and collapse… Hah… I’m getting irritated just talking about it.”

“……”

Ermina’s eyes wavered precariously.

“But you know what? I’m different. Why should I just sit back and watch? I’m not a fool who just takes it like your son.”

“……”

“Ah, that’s not to say I have any particular grievance against you. Grudge? Vengeance? Don’t worry, there’s none of that. In competition, there are always winners and losers, no matter what methods are used, right?”

Well, instead, let’s say.

“What I’m about to show you isn’t anything special. I just want to show you a bit of how your son has been living.”

Oh, but don’t take it too seriously.

“I’ll erase everything you see here as soon as we leave this space. I’m quite skilled at that sort of thing, you know?”

“How far do you intend to toy with people’s fates?!”

“Why are you getting so upset? You must have been curious too, right? Or what? Did your interest disappear the moment he left your embrace? Or perhaps you secretly hoped he’d die a miserable death somewhere so he wouldn’t tarnish your reputation or prestige—”

“That’s not true! That can’t be true—!”

It was both a scream and a wail.

Clearly, it was a cry closer to a lament.

“My, getting so worked up over nothing. This is why primitive and lowly creatures are so… tsk!”

Like an elder.

Or treating her with the nonchalance of a close sister…

Ermina found it disgusting and infuriating, impossible to endure.

“Kuk!”

For her to express anger outwardly like this was truly rare.

But.

“Now then, where shall we begin?”

The Demon Lord moved straight to the main point without mocking or pointing out her reaction.

It might seem like she was provoking or taunting.

But the Demon Lord was fundamentally a being who didn’t pay much attention to others.

She might take a momentary interest, but that was the extent of it.

From the beginning, she had little interest in anything other than herself.

No.

‘From the beginning, I…’

Wasn’t it that I chose this life and fate because I hated myself?

I think I understand now.

“Hoo.”

The Demon Lord shook off her rising thoughts.

With a snap of her fingers,

the surroundings transformed in the blink of an eye.

“This… place.”

The imperial palace.

And a corridor.

A black-haired boy moved through it, shoulders hunched as if withdrawn, glancing around distractedly.

Yet, as if entranced, he muttered incomprehensible words to the air.

Eventually, the child entered the palace treasury.

And immediately after… he beheld it.

The brilliant gold.

……The Demon Lord of Wisdom.

The worst being who swept through an era, whom we fearfully degraded by calling the Golden Beast.

“It might have been dramatic for him, but to me, he was just some kid.”

As if providing commentary, she was suddenly seated beside Ermina, pushing a bunch of grapes into her mouth.

Ermina herself found that she was now sunk into a plush armchair.

Like.

Watching a play unfold on stage.

“How can I be sure this isn’t all your false theater, not just some game?”

“How should I know? Believe it or not, that’s your choice. I show, and you see. Do you think I would even infringe upon your free will? I’m not that inconsiderate.”

From the beginning, you see.

“I’ve never forced anyone. Not then, not now.”

“…To speak such cowardly words so nonchalantly. Do you… have no shame?”

“It’s the world that’s twisted, not my concern. I’ve done nothing wrong. That’s why I can accept defeat purely. Did I whine to you about losing? Strange. I don’t recall ever being that petty. Besides, were there any poor people starving to death under my reign? Perhaps my era was more of a golden age for them than the current times?”

“That’s because you… to drive out the existing powers, to win the favor of the people…”

“Didn’t the rulers lose their qualification to rule the moment they lost the people’s favor to me? That’s why some countries openly defied me, right? And that’s why I completely annihilated them.”

“…Just because they didn’t follow your words! How could you so ruthlessly destroy those precious lives given by heaven!”

“If your heaven created vermin, and if the gap between vermin, beasts, and humans is heaven’s will, then isn’t my oppression of you also heaven’s will? No? Then your god must be both incompetent and ignorant?”

“……”

“Will you carelessly throw around the word ‘omnipotent’? That word only serves to justify my existence.”

Well, it’s not wrong.

“My existence affirmed the existence of you, the saint, and your husband, the hero. Without me? You would have been nothing. So, aren’t you actually glad? Because I appeared, you became the saint of salvation again, and your husband once more became the hero…”

“Don’t be ridiculous! You! How can you so shamelessly! Beyond impudence, with such audacity!”

“I told you. It’s not my concern.”

Besides, aren’t you going to watch that?

“It’s the most interesting part.”

“What… did you say?”

A pale world.

A world resembling pure white, with nothing else in it.

There, young Kariel was placed.

And at his feet, dropped…

A sword.

“Then what is… sincerity really about? Desperation? Earnestness?”

Kariel asks.

And.

“That’s certainly part of it. Do you understand what it means to exert your sincerity, to give your all, and have you actually felt it?”

The Demon Lord responded with a brazen face.

“I…”

Even as he asked, young Kariel trembled slightly, his shoulders appearing very withdrawn.

“Risking your life, burning your soul, exerting every ounce of strength. They all mean the same thing. Is ‘running with gritted teeth’ too mild an expression? For some, even that would be too much.”

In short.

“To pour everything into achieving your goal, to reach the desired outcome. To reveal everything about yourself without hiding a speck of dust. The forms of expression vary, but you get the gist, right?”

“…Intellectually, yes.”

That’s enough.

The Demon Lord says this with a satisfied smile.

“Whether you can intentionally, willfully control this will completely determine the nature of your training and your future growth potential.”

“So how do I get… ah.”

“I like how quick you are.”

She said with a bright smile.

“I won’t tell you. So figure it out yourself.”

For that, first.

“Lightly, just die sincerely 100 times.”

Ah….

Aah…!

Ermina’s eyes widened immensely.

With trembling lips, in a tone that could be either questioning or muttering.

She asked.

But it never formed into a proper question.

It faded away inappropriately.

“Wh-what are you… wh-what is this…?”

Ermina couldn’t believe it.

There was some dialogue after that.

But eventually.

The one who picked up the sword from the ground was.

Kariel himself.

With trembling hands, he forcibly gripped it backward.

Tightly closing his eyes as if seized by despair.

As if he had no choice, he took several deep breaths.

Thrust!

He decisively thrust the sword vertically toward his neck.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Kyahahahaha!”

Unlike Ermina who was screaming.

The Demon Lord clapped her hands vigorously, laughing with great delight.

“What?! Laugh! It’s all in the past! It’s because he overcame this that Kariel is who he is today. You should be proud! Ermina! This is what you wanted!”

“No! No! I, I! Never wanted this! Never wanted something like this…!”

He wasn’t dead yet.

With the sword embedded in him, he struggled, the sound of wind and blood flowing, leaking sounds that were chillingly clear.

“Kuk! Kruk! Kek!”

Blood foam mingles with the sound of wind.

The metal turns red, and the surroundings are dyed crimson.

Desperate to die, yet unable to.

For a long time after that, young Kariel just kept struggling.

“Life is quite tenacious, isn’t it? A curse or a blessing.”

Ermina watched the scene throughout.

And then.

As if everything had been a lie, it reverts.

“Heok!”

Kariel sits down, retching.

Under his eyes, that sword from before…

“Kuk!”

Breathing heavily, he grips the sword with both hands again.

“…Kuk!”

He can’t thrust it decisively like the first time.

The second time required much more time than the first.

But.

Thrust!

…He doesn’t give up.

“Aah…”

“He’s stubborn, that’s for sure. Even in a dream, it’s not an easy thing.”

Still.

“Practice makes perfect. Whatever it is.”

The Demon Lord snickered, sinking into small thoughts as if reminiscing about that time, looking at the scene unfolding before her.

The scene Ermina is watching.

The scene she herself is looking down upon.

It would be something completely different.

‘Even then, at that time, he wasn’t even interesting enough.’

It was just a ‘give it a try’ kind of thing.

I just pretended to be interested while talking to him.

And so.

Until the moment he completed all 100 times, without stopping the scene.

It continued.

Moreover.

“Settling for that is just another name for giving up…”

“Heok?!”

Toward Kariel, who seemed to have become a little, just a little accustomed to it.

The Demon Lord firmly cautioned.

“Don’t lose sight of your purpose. Who told you to accept death, to endure it and resign yourself to it? At this rate, you’ll have to die not just 100 times, but hundreds more, possibly even thousands.”

Don’t lose your focus.

Why you’re doing this nonsense here.

“Dig deep. Engrave it. Think. Use your head. Find the answer as if burning your heart. Crave it, I say!”

“…You don’t need to tell me!”

And so, once again filled with determination.

He kills himself.

Kills himself again.

Clearly, he faces death.

He faces his own death.

His own limits…

He faces them.

He endures them.

The reason I have to die like this…

“Sword…”

Tears streamed down from Ermina’s eyes.

“This one. We haven’t even started yet and she’s already crying.”

That time must have felt like an eternity.

For Ermina, it was clearly another aspect of hell.

But.

Dying while enduring a shower of arrows.

Being trampled by hooves, rammed, impaled by spears and swords, stabbed, sliced, and dismembered by blades.

Being crushed to death by giant monsters or being chewed and eaten, being devoured and having his body melt away, or suffocating to death.

“A-are… are you… a devil?”

How, how could you subject that child to such terrible! Such absurd tragedy!

“It’s what he wanted.”

“That can’t be! Even if he wanted something, not this! This! I never wanted this!”

He’s not dead yet.

With the sword embedded, he struggles, the sound of wind and blood flowing is clearly audible.

“Kuk! Kruk!”

Blood foam mingles with the sound of wind.

The metal turns red, and the surroundings are dyed crimson.

“What, what are you saying?! He couldn’t have wanted this! Even if he did, not like this! You had the power and knowledge to make him stronger! There must have been! There must have been other ways!”

“Then he would have betrayed you.”

“Wh-what?!”

“He said he wouldn’t accept my power.”

After all.

“He kept insisting he was the child of a hero and saint, and wouldn’t be swayed by my sweet talk, so what could I do?”

I offered it to him, you know?

“It was that little brat’s decision to refuse? What? You don’t like that either? What do you want me to do?”

“……”

She was at a loss for words.

What to say, what to, what to say…

“As you know, he has no talent.”

But did you know that was a side effect of him throwing himself into the World Tree?

“Kariel didn’t know at the time either.”

So how else could he get stronger?

He had to do it this way.

Without this, it would be impossible to get stronger in a short time.

So I could see what was coming and offered to give it to him for free, but he refused?

Such a stubborn kid!

“I, the great one! Tried to show mercy! So I kept teasing him, telling him not to regret it later! The changes in his expression were quite a sight to see!”

Ermina felt like her mind was about to explode at the tone that seemed to be reminiscing about fond memories.

“Wasn’t it you who wanted him to become stronger and tougher? What’s the problem?”

Isn’t this what you’ve been forcing on him all along? Rather than being grateful for raising your son well!

“Well, at least he didn’t starve to death, so in that sense, he was blessed. At the same time, someone else might be clutching their hungry stomach and starving to death, or a newborn might suffer from hunger and eventually be eaten, or be sold off and grow up enduring all sorts of humiliation, growing up without any dreams or hopes… Compared to those, Kariel’s life is indeed blessed. It is, but…”

Ermina, you know well too?

“Though there are many worlds, every living thing has its own hell, doesn’t it?”

Still, you all willingly endure hardships to escape hell.

“What about him? What about him at that time?”

“……”

“The conclusion is simple.”

He was able to endure the trials I gave him, so he survived.

“On the other hand, leaving your side?”

It’s simple.

“Being by your side was the deepest, lowest level of hell he experienced. The deepest layer of hell.”

That is to say.

“You were Kariel’s most severe hell.”

Aha, hahaha!

“Isn’t that an amusing conclusion?”

“…That can’t be true. We, we…”

“Not ‘we,’ perhaps it was just you?”

Hahaha!

Ahahahaha!

Ah, aah!

Ah, this, this is fun.

Ermina’s silent collapse, her disintegration, seemed to the Demon Lord like the sweetest music, like a song.

Unconsciously finding the bunch of grapes insufficient, she created a small wine glass and added deep red wine.

Sip!

“Hmm! Sweet!”

Your silent screams, your wailing, your cries…

“For me, it’s truly another aspect of heaven.”

Kuk! Kruk!

Haha, hahaha!

Ahahaha! Ahahahaha!

Kyahahahaha!

“Aah! But, Ermina. But you know. The journey is still far from over… what will you do? But are you really suffering? Is there a more pathetic pretense than the nonsense that mental hell is more painful than physical suffering? Were you also a fool who believed in such absurd notions?”

“……”

Though her flowing tears had dried up.

Nevertheless, Ermina continued to take in the ongoing scene without missing anything.

“Well, grieve earnestly.”

After all.

‘I’ll erase everything once we leave here.’

Whether that’s a blessing or a curse for you.

Well, either way, it’s of no concern to me!

‘Kariel~ I didn’t harm your mother at all.’

Really!

Ah, just saying!

After all.

It will all be as if it never happened!