Ch.307101. Chain of Causality (3)

I wander through the darkness.

Stepping into the wilderness beyond.

I aimlessly walked through an empty, pale world where white nights and black nights intersect.

A feeling like climbing onto the gallows.

Or perhaps, like a student heading to a practicum site with a reluctant heart, burdened by a troublesome task.

Not an end, but a beginning.

The beginning of the end will soon conclude, and finally, the start of the end.

“That eye that sees the future? Did you just pass that on to your disciple and leave?”

“……”

Kariel simply nodded.

Whether alone or with companions.

It made no difference.

“Isn’t the ability to see the future quite useful?”

“Everything has its limits.”

If, by knowing the future, my possibilities and future become restricted, then perhaps not knowing is far better.

Rather, at this point, I can make reasonable guesses without such abilities.

At a stage where I can steer my own future in the direction I desire, peeking into the future is no longer essential.

For instance, a vessel that’s too large for water can be problematic.

What I wanted was just enough to quench my thirst and replenish moisture.

“If that’s what you say, then I suppose that’s how it is.”

“……”

Perhaps she would have been better off spending the rest of her life in the middle realm.

But she must have realized it herself.

That she could no longer live normally.

Whether she wanted it or not, once an egg is cracked, it can never return to its original state.

Now, ordinary intelligent beings and organic life forms must seem chaotic and disorderly to her.

Especially since she never desired life, existence, or anything else to begin with.

“And I feel like I need to deal with that dog to be satisfied. Even if we leave him alone, if he starts acting up, that would be annoying too.”

Having been pushed around by the military gods during her time as a Demon Lord, she must have built up some resentment.

“Since I’ve lost the desire to hide from reality, I have no choice.”

Though Lutetia once wanted to burn the world.

But knowing that what she sees now is all there is, perhaps she’s lost that drive even more.

She still cursed and resented the world.

But she no longer seemed as blind as before.

“In that sense, that dog’s method might be correct. His mindset of not just burning one world but every world there is—it’s almost admirable.”

“……”

“To make his world unique by eliminating everything else… in a way, it feels extremely rational.”

It’s like humans climbing over each other’s corpses after competing and struggling.

“From a certain perspective, it means his world effectively wins all competitions, becoming the most unique and distinct world.”

“……”

“Conversely, stopping him means the world remains chaotic and unruly, like it is now.”

I have no intention of judging right from wrong.

Pruning branches so a tree grows well, or harvesting its fruits.

These aren’t choices the tree itself can make.

That’s why the World Tree, the Demon Tree…

They may be absurd life forms, and the concepts they control may be equally absurd.

But in the end, it’s beings like us who grasp, chew, and swallow their fruits and core values.

“We’re almost there.”

“……”

“Even when we arrive, that’s just the beginning.”

The demon realm, you know, is larger than a continent in terms of territory.

“Because there’s little habitable environment, the inhabitants are densely packed, creating a terrible society that functions as both a farm and a slaughterhouse.”

With no resources, living beings are used as resources themselves.

In the middle realm, the continent where Kariel lived, there have been historical and current examples of races viewing other races as food, but…

In the demon realm, that’s the norm.

Moreover, it’s not something to be disgusted by or problematized… it’s thoroughly encouraged.

Demon Lords who tried to prevent, control, or regulate this were generally viewed as suspicious or peculiar.

The resistance was intense.

“We’ll need to consider what principles might be established there.”

“……”

Kariel nodded slightly.

“Hey. Are you really okay with this?”

“…No problem.”

Even this will surely be just a moment.

Reality feels thin.

I sometimes feel anxious, as if I might fall away from this reality at any moment.

Even that was just an instant, a fleeting moment.

I’m not in a position to be swayed by such things, as my emotions and sensibilities aren’t sufficient.

After walking for a while.

Far away, beyond the wilderness, someone was watching us.

“……”

Lutetia must have sensed something too, as she stopped walking and seemed to focus her attention, wary of it.

“Hmm.”

It.

Without sound or presence, casually reached right in front of us.

A figure in an ash-gray monk’s robe with a hood pulled down.

But when he lifted his hood, a pale, almost white, unremarkable face was revealed.

“…A demon realm being?”

It’s not strange that Lutetia would make such a mistake.

“Is her return to this land voluntary or involuntary?”

He asked in a heavy voice, yet strangely light and monotonous.

“Why are you curious about that?”

Kariel stepped forward and met his gaze.

“Mere curiosity.”

“…You should be able to tell at a glance, so why ask?”

“Aren’t you also asking me while knowing the answer?”

He let out an unsettling laugh, “Hehehe.”

“……”

I thought I’d never meet him again after our first encounter.

Perhaps this is his land, territory where he can exercise sovereignty.

“Thamiel.”

“Hmm.”

He loosened his lips on his pale face.

Yet his two eyes remained black, feigning indifference.

“Satan. Samael.”

“Are you sure? To mention all those names?”

“……”

“Even one of those names is enough to judge the world. Does invoking all of them mean you’re now prepared for the consequences? Kariel.”

“……”

“Or is there something among these names that you desire?”

“Of course not.”

Kariel firmly denied.

“Even if you remain neutral in your role, when it comes to essence and origin, you and I could never reach a consensus, am I wrong?”

“I still occasionally have audiences with the Lord. What would I have to fear or desire?”

Even my existence was His intention.

“To deny me would be to deny His omnipotence. Denying me is denying Him. I may be their trial, but never their enemy. Always as it has been.”

“……”

“That’s why, Kariel, you can have this conversation with me. I want nothing from you.”

“……”

“That child over there might be different.”

“What are you saying?”

Lutetia expressed her displeasure with narrowed eyes.

“Breaking out of the egg involuntarily rather than voluntarily is a privilege rightfully given to all living beings.”

“……”

“It’s a bit different for you. Breaking out on your own has meaning. It’s not easy. Everyone, when they’re spiritual, prefers to be like us and desperately hopes to ascend to that higher realm, but even when given the opportunity, they soon forget. Then, after being bound to a worthless body, they wander the wilderness, forgetting themselves, their will, and losing all hope and desire. Until the moment their throats are parched.”

“……”

“You’ve seen this place before, haven’t you?”

The wilderness.

The place I had been standing all along.

From the moment I emerged from the abyss, this was the place that had greeted me.

That mental image was spread out before me like reality.

A pale, cool sky.

Dry earth and faint, arid sand winds.

All that’s visible is the scenery of the endless wilderness stretching far away.

“Must life be so bland? Since you’ve obtained a body, why not truly experience and enjoy emotions and pleasures?”

“……”

“If you cannot, I can help.”

“Kariel. Why are you just silently listening to what this strange man is saying?”

“……”

Kariel let out a small sigh.

“Your appearance means, as before, that no one but yourself can persuade, so you’ve personally come forward, is that it?”

“Your intellect still seems intact. Though you appear worn down, finding it difficult to even sense reality.”

“……”

“But it’s not yet your time to die. So I’ll just leave you with this: if you want, call me anytime. I’ll come running in a single step.”

After saying this, the man smiled slightly with just his lips.

“You have talent. Enough to do well standing behind or beside me. It’s a pity you didn’t finish your father with your own hands… but that was fine as an aesthetic choice. You’ve driven a nail into your parents’ hearts, and they’ll scream inside until the day they die, unable to remove it.”

“……”

“Self-inflicted? Have you ever wondered if this might be part of the revenge your master prayed for?”

“……”

“I hope this small temptation sows confusion in you. As you said, this is my subtle art, also called the poison of god.”

Well, that’s enough.

“Have a pleasant journey. I look forward to meeting again with joy.”

With those words, the man suddenly disappeared.

“So what was that? Thamiel? Satan… Satan? Huh?”

Lutetia looked aghast, as if she had just realized it.

“Was that really the adversary and enemy that the Eirenis… the Eirenis Order spoke of? The source of all evil and the lord of hell, the archduke of hell… Is that right? I mean, is it?”

“……”

Kariel nodded in affirmation.

“That’s… Trigramaton, right? But why did he appear? I mean, why?”

“Didn’t you know? The demon realm and hell are the same domain.”

“…I’m hearing this for the first time.”

His appearance means we’re truly close now.

It’s a kind of goodwill and at the same time…

A warning.

“Get ready.”

“For what?”

“…To welcome guests.”

“You mean they’ll be the ones doing that, not us, right?”

The two continued discussing as they moved forward.

“He seemed to be targeting me, but he was actually after you. There will probably be many such invitations.”

“Like with you, Kariel?”

“…Yes.”

Even now.

[Look who’s here, our other self? How about it? Feel like having a showdown?]

Athena.

Now… Astarte?

“Wait. I’ll be there soon.”

It was still an endless wilderness.

But after moving forward and forward.

Finally.

The sky began to turn blood red.

The sky of the demon realm that Hwangeum had shown me long ago.

And.

Far in the distant sky, a massive tree with countless roots piercing the air upside down, its head plunged into the ground, bowing.

“……”

And as if to welcome us who had just arrived.

Demon beasts and creatures filling the crimson wasteland.

And far away, I can sense that being.

Something emitting an even more ferocious and vast energy and waves than before.

Far away, it was watching us, flaunting its presence.

Is this the beginning of the end?

To end the end.

Once more.

I will climb upon this starting point.