Ch.46Chapter 46. Madness Eventually Becomes Love and Sings

It wasn’t like this from the beginning.

It’s just that as desires were fulfilled, they grew larger, and the resulting distortion progressed without awareness.

“…Mephisto. My first servant.”

Thus, the lord who had collapsed unlike himself began to sink into contemplation, looking down at the empty paper before him.

Unlike now when there was nowhere higher to climb, he reminisced about times when all he pursued was ascension.

“Do you remember? The days we spent together.”

“…Yes, I remember.”

Among the vagrants scattered throughout the garbage dump, one exceptionally strong one and one so weak he wasn’t even considered competition.

But since either would struggle to navigate dangers alone, the strong one reached out to the weak and said:

‘Help me. In return, I’ll guarantee you a better future than you have now.’

At first, it was just clinging to him for scraps.

With his help, the strong one gradually grew, conquered streets full of thugs, and caught the eye of the ruling class, entering battlefields and pursuing victory.

After repeated growth, he eventually overcame even them and ascended to the throne.

Finally standing at the pinnacle of a world, he expressed gratitude to his first vassal and shared the view he beheld.

‘Look, my first servant. Remember this view from the top!’

For the weakling from the garbage dump, it was a brilliant and magnificent sight he wasn’t even allowed to see.

When he realized that everything existed beneath his feet, a desire beyond mere survival began to bloom in the heart of the predator at the bottom of the food chain.

The expectation that by standing beside someone with the qualities of a ruler, he could indirectly experience that glory.

The moment he realized that the only one who could fulfill this was the person before him, his heart eventually led to a mission to serve by his side.

“You too will be like me.”

For that, he offered true loyalty. He devoted himself with a sincere heart.

Even if such feelings were considered alien to the Demon Tribe, he took pride in such strangeness.

If what he possessed was truly something the Demon Tribe shouldn’t have.

Rather, he proudly embraced such desire (madness) as his own source.

“You will understand me too.”

The Demon Lord, feeling that such a calling had followed and collapsed with him.

He demanded that his servant empathize with him.

“This feeling of an ever-growing vessel that cannot be filled, you too will acutely realize it…!”

I understand.

Mephisto understood his lord’s heart better than anyone, to the extent that he believed death was the only way to resolve it.

“Yet, why… Why do you, who I thought would share my fate, who I considered my only one who understands, say you’re leaving my side?”

Yet in this moment, confronted with his choice to leave, the Demon Lord’s eyes began to show a strange light.

“Expectation…”

Yes, it was expectation.

As if hoping that his understanding one finally had something he wanted to achieve, even if it meant leaving his side.

“Have you finally found something to expect?”

“…Demon Lord.”

“Tell me. You who understands me, who are you trying to go to, even leaving my side…”

Seeing that expression seeking hope despite so much betrayed expectation, Mephisto felt her heart tighten.

“Is that person stronger than me? Much stronger than… me who has crossed dimensions and destroyed everything that could be destroyed?”

She wanted to say it.

That she, knowing the end of someone with nowhere higher to climb, could no longer feel desire for the strong.

“Then introduce him to me too. If there exists a being who can fight equally with me like in the past, perhaps I too can revive that thrill…”

But was it right to tell him?

There would be a great difference between one who falls into despair merely watching and one who falls into despair while taking action.

Who could guarantee that he, who had already broken many things for his desire, wouldn’t extend his demonic hand toward that man she wanted to protect?

“No, it doesn’t have to be that. Just enough not to be trampled is fine! As long as he’s stronger than those around me…!!”

“…Demon Lord.”

So she had to stop him.

Before the will to speak, a warning she wasn’t even aware of began to spill out before him.

“Do you remember the number of grains of sand you’ve trampled on until now?”

The power of madness leaking from his body spreads through his voice.

Even knowing it would be uselessly erased by the torrent of power he emitted, she hoped that at least her voice would reach him.

“I just happened to particularly remember one grain of sand among those you’ve trampled. A being who is just one of countless grains of sand you’ve trampled on.”

“……”

“…Do you want to spend time on such an insignificant being?”

Yes, she had to stop him.

Because she couldn’t know how his twisted attachment to expectations would break the being his demonic hand reached for.

Because she, who had barely escaped from his infinite void, didn’t want to be swallowed by it again.

“…I don’t understand.”

But as if even that intention didn’t reach him, only a hollow voice leaked from his mouth.

“I don’t understand why you’re doing this, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“…Demon Lord.”

“Go.”

That he bowed his head in the end was neither because he understood her, nor out of respect or mercy.

Just because he didn’t understand.

Because he vaguely guessed the one fact that whatever it was, what he expected didn’t exist.

“I don’t want to expect anything anymore. So go if you want to go. As you said, we can no longer expect anything from each other…”

And so, as if treating the traces of those he had suppressed and killed like a bed, he buried his head and closed his tired eyelids.

Like a child tired from playing, like an old man facing death.

Beyond a dying old tree, with an appearance that felt less vital than even a corpse…

“…Now, I just want to sleep.”

Mephisto just stood there for a while, watching him lie down with his crushed body and fall asleep.

Because she thought the price of betrayal wouldn’t end with such indifference.

Perhaps he might reach out the moment she turned her back.

Though he said he was going to sleep, she could still feel the torrent of power distorting around him, a power whose form she couldn’t even recognize…

“…Demon Lord.”

But that too was just anxiety born from fear.

Mephisto, who had been by his side all along, already acutely felt what state the person before her was in.

That the only way to forget such reality was to turn away from this world and lie down…

“Thank you for everything all this time.”

So she decided to turn her back without regret.

She wanted to abandon her attachment to a lord who could no longer achieve anything.

“Then, goodbye…”

Betrayal, despair, or sadness.

She knew that feeling even these toward someone who could no longer fulfill her ideals was a luxury…

***

“Aha~ So you survived after all~”

As she passed through the devastated castle and left the ruined city, a demon with a seductive aura approached, revealing her presence.

That cunning whisper was both familiar and alarming to Mephisto.

“To escape with your life from the Demon Lord in such a state… Should I call this good luck?”

“…Yasmo.”

Come to think of it, she had disappeared from the scene even before the rampage began.

Unlike Grizzvill who didn’t know the Demon Lord’s condition, or Beelzebub whose lingering attachment delayed his escape.

“So you noticed the Demon Lord’s condition?”

“Rather than noticing, I’d say I lost interest long ago. To be frank, the desires I have aren’t exactly fulfilled by being in the army.”

Yes, she was the demon of lust.

She doesn’t consider power hierarchy, position, or ideology when it comes to those who will mix bodies with her.

Even that bored her and she turned to homosexuality, so the Demon Lord Army’s ruthless destruction would have been of little concern to her…

“…Yasmo.”

Then what about the other demons?

Could the demons who came to this world solely for the Demon Lord navigate this unfamiliar world after losing their focal point?

“What will happen to the Demon Lord Army now?”

“It already passed its limit. The battle-loving baldy who led the fights and the bug who managed and controlled the army are both dead… And both of us no longer feel the need to stay in the Demon Lord Army.”

The Four Heavenly Kings were summoned and in the blink of an eye, two died.

Demons returning from other regions will soon hear this news when they rejoin the army.

“What will happen to demons no longer controlled by the Demon Lord?”

By then, maintaining the Demon Lord Army as before will be impossible.

The reason a military system could exist among selfish demons was the belief that following an absolute strong one would fulfill their desires.

“Whatever happens, if they survive, it’ll be no different from what you’ll do from now on. Not listening to control, just doing as they please…”

Yes, just like when there was no Demon Lord.

Returning to a chaotic melting pot where everyone is faithful only to their desires, controlled by no one.

“Ahaha~ You talk as if you’re different.”

Yasmo burst into laughter at her opinion and began to stare at her with half-closed eyes.

“A resignation letter. What an interesting story. The mad slaughterer who killed the most sentient beings in the Demon Lord Army is now pretending to be human.”

Pretending to be human.

Is that how her previous actions appeared to her?

“…Whatever we do, the fundamentals don’t change.”

It doesn’t matter either way.

Whether conscious or not, it all stems from the instincts demons possess.

“We always live only for our desires. If we can’t fulfill them ourselves, we’ll parasitize those who can realize them.”

“…That’s right. Even if the Demon Lord disappears, the fundamentals don’t change.”

Swoosh. A body turning to dust.

Through the mist that scattered into the void, only her voice echoed.

-And for that desire, I’m perfectly prepared to fight old comrades.

Ahaha, hahaha~♬

The laughter gradually fading away.

After realizing her presence had completely disappeared, Mephisto left that place and moved forward.

If they meet again someday, they’re more likely to be enemies than allies, but that’s not immediate, so she decided not to worry about it.

“…I survived.”

As she moved away from the scene, following her heart, the tension disappeared and she began to clearly feel her heartbeat.

Her breathing, the sensation of wind caressing her skin.

And the warmth of sunlight shining down where the dark clouds had cleared.

“I survived. Really.”

Basking in that light, she felt even the source of desire that had bound her was fading.

The memory of her aimless wandering journey felt as trivial as the pebbles hitting her feet in this moment.

“And even now, I still remember you.”

But what follows now is not an aimless journey, but a path with clear signposts.

The catalyst may be trivial, and the time spent together short.

Nevertheless, that light clearly rises in this moment, so she wanted to leave the stage where she had danced following its traces.

The story of the most base clown in the world.

Who only waits for someone else to fulfill their ideals.

She buried it in this land.

As a woman who has fallen in love.

To live a life of seizing what she desires with her own hands.

-Ding~

As if expressing that will, the string of the instrument now in her hand begins to be plucked.

A performance lighter than ever before, responding to genuine emotion.

-Dingaling~♬

As that gentle sound echoes over the hill, dandelion seeds buried in the ground begin to sprout, opening the path for her to advance.

The buds swaying to her humming eventually become flowers, and the seeds that form where the petals fall are sent off in the wind.

“Hyoseong. What about you?”

Thus, when the path of the wind was clearly drawn, the minstrel following that path sang of her wish.

More valuable than the merely intense mirage.

Hoping that at the end of this journey, there exists a modest happiness she can grasp in her hands.

“Even in a world like this, do you still want to be with me?”

In this moment when humans, the Demon Tribe, and all others living in this world prepare for the impending doom.

To enjoy what might be the last pleasure of this life.

****

…Yes.

Though she had abandoned everything solely for that one.

“Take your hands off that person.”

What is it, that woman?

Just when happiness was one step away, why does she suddenly appear and glare at her with such fierce eyes?

“…Would you like to say that again?”

She’s not an ordinary human.

Though still weak, if only measuring her caliber, she’s reached a level comparable to the Demon Lord.

“I said take your hands off my man!!!”

At those words uttered by a woman who could be called a ‘demigod’ without exaggeration, Merilyn wore a blank expression without realizing it.

Her man?

Is she referring to this man in her arms right now?

“Well, it seems a lot happened while I was away…”

Feeling her heart flutter at those words, Merilyn Sutherland said quietly with flashing eyes.

“Can you take responsibility for what you just said?”

While glaring at what might be the biggest obstacle to realizing her desire.

A clear ‘rival’ in love.