Chapter 23: The Demon of Memory

The largest city in the eastern part of the empire, Easton, was a place where various cultures coexisted.

The traditional culture of the empire, the culture of the East, and even the exotic cultures beyond the Eastern Continent.

As a crossroads of civilization, battles had been constant throughout history.

The city, which always had to face enemies, was surrounded by massive double walls.

“That concludes today’s lesson. You now have free time. The area is limited to the central part of Easton. The outskirts are unsafe, so do not venture out.”

After finishing their field study, the professors gave the students some free time.

The students, who had arrived after several days of travel from Lentz to this distant foreign land, were excited.

The students immediately gathered with their close friends, as if waiting for this moment.

Daisy and Beatrice joined Elizabeth.

They went to the traditional market.

“Wow, here it’s just camels and horses pulling carts? Not a single car.”

“Ugh… the smell of horse dung.”

Daisy and Beatrice complained.

Beatrice covered her nose with a handkerchief.

The Easton traditional market looked at least 500 years older than Lentz.

Narrow dirt paths, merchants carrying goods on horses and camels.

Most of these merchants were a bronze-skinned race wearing turbans.

The eastern sunlight was harsh and strong.

The students wore wide-brimmed hats or wrapped cloth around their heads like Easterners.

Elizabeth wore a white cloth.

Through the cloth, her platinum blonde hair flowed naturally.

Elizabeth was captivated by the exotic and mysterious charm of the place and kept walking.

As she walked, she gradually lost sight of her friends and found herself alone.

‘Had she wandered off toward the outskirts?’

Just as she thought she should turn back,

someone wearing tattered rags appeared on the path ahead.

Elizabeth was about to pass by when he spoke to her.

“Yulia.”

Who was he calling?

It didn’t seem like he was calling anyone else.

At that moment, only he and she were on the path.

“Yulia.”

He called again.

Could it be called a voice?

It was an unpleasant yet strange voice, like heavy rain pounding on a window.

It was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman, old or young.

Was that really a human voice?

Elizabeth instinctively turned her head to look at him.

And her breath caught.

It wasn’t a shadow but seemed like an empty black void.

It was completely devoid of any facial features—no eyes, nose, or mouth, as if painted black.

“…Who are you?”

Elizabeth instinctively stepped back and asked.

The creature raised a hand and waved as if greeting.

The hand was also pitch black.

And bony.

No flesh or muscle remained—only bones.

Elizabeth felt a simultaneous instinctive aversion and intense curiosity.

“I am me.”

“You must have a name.”

“Oublius. But you probably know me better as the Demon of Memory.”

Oublius, or the Demon of Memory.

One of the Ten Great Demons who, a thousand years ago, brought the founding generation to the brink of disaster.

Though weak in direct combat, he was perhaps the worst demon because of his powerful ability to manipulate, erase, and create memories.

“…How can I believe that?”

He was an incomprehensibly distant existence.

A transcendent being who had lived for over a thousand years.

It was hard to trust such a claim.

“Little miss, did you come alone?”

“You look bored. Want to play with us?”

At that moment, some rough men approached.

Their swagger made it clear they didn’t come with good intentions.

Seeing a blonde girl alone with a strange old man in a remote area was like finding a jackpot.

“That should be enough.”

The demon pointed a finger at the thugs.

A thin finger.

Fwah!

An invisible force shot out.

Instantly, the thugs dropped to their knees and bowed their heads before Elizabeth for no apparent reason.

“Y-Your Majesty, the Emperor!”

“Huh?”

“W-We didn’t recognize the most noble person in the world…! Please forgive us!!”

The thugs bowed their foreheads to the ground repeatedly, as if truly believing Elizabeth was the Emperor.

“What did you do to those men?” Elizabeth asked in surprise.

The demon laughed.

Though his face wasn’t visible, Elizabeth felt like he was smiling.

“I manipulated their memories. Made them see you as the Emperor.”

“That can’t be possible…”

“Then how about this?”

The demon waved his finger again.

The thugs started glaring at each other like enemies and immediately began punching.

Pow, pow, pow!

“You bastard! How dare you kill our parents!?”

“You’re the one! You killed my little sister and yet act so bold?!”

They fought as if they were sworn enemies, truly trying to kill each other.

The demon rubbed his palm like a fly.

“This time, I turned them into enemies of each other.”

“The bald one’s parents were robbed and murdered, the fat one’s sister was raped and murdered. Enough reason to hate each other, right?”

Pow, pow, pow!!

They didn’t stop even with split lips and broken bones.

When wrists broke, they fought with legs.

When legs broke, they fought with teeth.

They seemed determined not to stop until one died.

“…Stop.”

“Of course. I respect you.”

Snap.

The demon snapped his fingers.

The thugs stopped fighting.

Looking around, they staggered away exhausted.

They seemed to have no memory of what had just happened.

“Do you believe me now? If not, I can tell you other cases.”

“What else do you have?”

“Let’s see… What would surprise you? You’re from Eihenwald, right? Then this should be good. You know Maximilian, right?”

“The one who massacred 30,000 in Reinborn.”

The Reinborn massacre was famous enough to be recorded in history books.

Even without reading newspapers, anyone not completely cut off from the world would know about it.

Many massacres happened over the millennium, mostly by nations, groups, or demons.

But none like Reinborn, where an individual killed 30,000 people.

That incident ruined the reputation of the knights and completely destroyed his family.

The demon said casually, “That wasn’t Maximilian. I manipulated it to look like he did.”

He said it so casually, it sounded like a boast.

“…Are you serious?”

“I swear on my name.”

Believing a demon might seem absurd, but Elizabeth felt no hint of deceit.

Would such a powerful being lie to her?

“Then… who really killed those 30,000 people?”

It was an important question.

If not a Sword Master wielding aura, then who?

Among the 30,000 were knights and magicians.

Only very few could commit such a massacre besides an old Sword Master.

“The Blade Demon. He loved cutting people. Well, he ended up getting cut to death by a sword himself.”

The Blade Demon.

A first-class demon, especially known for his combat prowess.

“…Then what about Maximilian?”

Elizabeth asked cautiously.

“He was a hero. Honestly, a dangerous man. But I never thought Ezil would lose.

To be killed by a blade—that’s surprising. He was skilled with blades.”

“…You manipulated that?”

The demon nodded.

“Why on earth… did you do this?”

Elizabeth asked.

It was ridiculous to ask a demon why he did something evil, but I couldn’t help but ask.

“Well, honestly, I didn’t care much. I figured having a strong guy like him around wouldn’t be so bad. But one day, the king summoned me.”

“The king?”

“Yeah. That guy you all call the ‘Wise King’ or the ‘Benevolent King.’”

The demon continued, as if in admiration.

“He summoned me with a summoning circle and do you know what he said? ‘I don’t care how, just kill Maximilian.’ That’s what he said.”

“…The king really said that?”

“Maximilian had been hailed as a hero for ages. Even before that, he killed countless demons and monsters and was considered a national hero. But to the king, Maximilian was a nuisance.”

“It was a stupid choice. Maximilian had no interest in power from the start. The king just got paranoid and had him killed.”

The demon spoke dispassionately, like he was telling someone else’s story.

Elizabeth was no longer surprised.

Too many shocks had hit her at once—she just felt numb.

She couldn’t believe that king, the wise and merciful king, had done that.

Maximilian was a hero.

He swung his sword for justice, courage, and truth.

And yet, the one who killed him wasn’t a demon—but another human.

“Thinking back, I thought it might actually be fun. A righteous man like Maximilian getting rejected by his own kind, not even by demons, seemed amusing.”

“Don’t make that face. Isn’t it better that you at least know the truth? Not that anyone would believe it even if you told them.”

Elizabeth’s doll-like beautiful face twisted in contempt.

That contempt wasn’t just directed at the demon.

It was also directed at the humans, more detestable than the demon himself.

“…That doesn’t make sense. Twenty thousand people survived that day. Some were knights and mages. Are you saying you manipulated all of their memories?”

“And there was even a photo of Maximilian killing—are you saying that was fabricated?”

Even for one of the Ten Demon Lords, twenty thousand people was a staggering number.

Manipulating that many memories was absurd.

It was practically power on the level of controlling history.

“The king gave me quite the generous offering. Three hundred virgins and three hundred infants just 300 days old. With 600 sacrifices like that, there’s nothing I can’t do. And photos? They’re the easiest thing to fake.”

Oblius spoke as if it were nothing.

At this point, there was nothing left to be shocked or disappointed about.

“…What did you mean earlier?”

“Hm?”

“You called me ‘Yulia.’ My name is Elizabeth.”

“Right. Your name is Elizabeth.”

“…But earlier you said Yulia.”

“You’re both Yulia and Elizabeth.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means exactly what it sounds like.”

A huge contradiction lay between the demon and Elizabeth’s conversation.

Elizabeth’s delicate philtrum wrinkled.

Further argument seemed pointless.

“What do you want from me?”

“Oh?”

“You came here because you want something from me, didn’t you?”

Elizabeth rotated the circle.

The circle, gradually heating up, refined pure mana and was ready to unleash a spell at any moment.

A faint pentagram shimmered over her blue eyes.

Unlike Elizabeth, who was preparing for battle, Oblius simply stroked his chin.

“Hm, have your Star Soul and Pentagram not awakened yet? Don’t worry. I’m not here to fight. I came to talk.”

“…Weren’t you after the Pentagram’s blessing?”

Elizabeth naturally assumed that Oblius approached her for the blessing of the Pentagram.

The demon shook his head regretfully.

“Of course I want it. But that power can only be digested by humans. If I tried to consume it, my very existence would vanish.”

“Then what business do you have with me?”

“I came to make you an offer.”

Elizabeth narrowed one brow and glared.

An offer from a demon.

Couldn’t be more suspicious.

“Nothing big. I want you to kill the other Demon Lords.”

“What?”

Elizabeth questioned the absurd request.

“The other Demon Lords?”

“Weren’t they supposed to be allies?”

“Hell is currently divided among ten of us. I don’t like that.”

“You’re all demons though.”

Elizabeth replied in disbelief,

And the demon answered with a mocking laugh.

“Coming from humans who’ve been fighting each other for a thousand years, that’s rich.”

Oblius continued.

“Want me to tell you something? More humans died after your founding era than during the time we demons enslaved mankind. Conquests, wars, famines, death. You brought all that upon yourselves.”

“In a way, wouldn’t it be better for demons to rule humans again? Paradoxically, I mean. What do you think? If I do it, I’ll promise— No mass killings, no slavery. I’ll just eat the disabled and the elderly.”

“Get lost.”

“So harsh. So will you accept my offer?”

“I can’t possibly kill the Demon Lords.”

Even the founding father had to flee after being wounded in battle against the Ten Demon Lords.

And that was on Earth. In Hell, their home ground, the Demon Lords were overwhelmingly powerful.

“That doesn’t matter if I’m with you. It’s up to your will.”

“Even so, what do I get out of it?”

Elizabeth asked.

She had no intention of accepting, but still asked.

She wanted to know what a demon could possibly offer.

“Hmm, love?”

The word was tossed out far too lightly, yet it pricked at Elizabeth’s heart.

The demon added,

“….”

“Moral or immoral, that’s a human concept. I don’t care about that. Or do I? Do I really not care?”

—Because we’re not related by blood.

He didn’t say that out loud.

Instead, Oblius let out an unpleasant nasal chuckle.

He had seen through the memory manipulation cast on Elizabeth.

Since it was made by mimicking his own power, of course he would recognize it.

And there were only two who could undo it.

Oblius, and the one who cast it—Leo.

Elizabeth herself couldn’t break it.

Elizabeth spoke again, cold as ever.

“…I don’t need your power.”

“Do you really think you can win everything on your own?”

“I said I don’t need it.”

Elizabeth growled in a low voice.

What upset her wasn’t just the truth of her feelings— But the fact that he knew them.

When he casually labeled her feelings for Leo as ‘love’ like it was some bargaining chip, she even felt humiliated.

“Haven’t figured out your own feelings yet, huh? Well, no need to rush. We’ve got time.”

The demon pulled something out from his body.

It was a black ring.

“If you keep this, you can talk to me. I can teach you magic, give advice, all sorts of things. Here, take it.”

The demon casually held out the ring.

But Elizabeth stared at it blankly—

And tossed it straight into the sewer.

“Well, that’s unfortunate.”

The demon said as if he genuinely felt sorry,

And Elizabeth walked past him.

The demon quietly watched her, and then suddenly vanished like smoke.

Elizabeth returned to her dorm at the academy.

Her friends were waiting for her in front of the dorm.

“Eli, where did you go?”

“You disappeared so suddenly—we were worried.”

Daisy and Beatrice rushed up and scolded her with concern.

Elizabeth forced a smile and said,

“I just got a little lost for a moment. Sorry.”

“Let’s get inside quickly. Tonight, there’s the famous roasted turkey from the East.”

“It’s supposed to be pretty good.”

“It’s not just supposed to be—it’s really delicious.”

“Then you eat a lot, okay?”

Daisy and Beatrice bickered as they walked into the restaurant.

Elizabeth followed her friends inside.

But at that moment, a strange, familiar yet unsettling feeling swept over her.

Without thinking, she slipped her hand into her pocket.

Her fingertips brushed against something cold and foreign.

Carefully, she touched it—

A ring.

A black ring.

It was clearly a discarded ring.

In the pocket where there should have been nothing, the ring was there.

Elizabeth’s expression stiffened.

She took out the ring and held it over the trash can.

But her hand wouldn’t let go.

After a moment of hesitation, she put the ring back into her pocket.