episode_0044

“Should I call you Bell?”

A witch who preserved the same appearance for thousands of years flashed a seductive smile.

“…It doesn’t matter how you call me.”

Diavel replied quietly.

“Rather, I came to seek help.”

“Help, huh? Well, you always came to me only when you needed that.”

The witch chuckled.

“Alright. Tell me first. Since you’re in a position to board a ship to ‘destruction,’ I’ll help you.”

The witch scanned Diavel’s appearance and reminisced about the past.

Mercenary Vistus died, and by chance, she met Vistus’s disciple, Bell.

The witch had realized that Bell was the girl for whom Vistus had sacrificed his life.

No matter how much she detested the being who took the life of the man she loved, he was someone who wanted to protect her at the cost of his own life.

If the child protected in exchange for his life were to die, his death would become a true death.

That’s why the witch helped the homeless Bell.

“That bastard. He probably thought I’d help him after he died.”

Even so, he was someone who cared for others.

…I must have been wrong to fall for him.

Why did I fall for someone like him…

However, even such a witch could not stop Bell’s hatred for the world that killed his master, and in the end, she could only watch as Bell fought and valiantly perished before the whole world.

That was the duty and discipline of a grand witch.

Even for the man she loved.

She was the woman who lost everything, including the last legacy the man had tried to protect, but she lived on as a grand witch.

Because that was her destiny.

So, thousands of years passed.

Countless empires and kingdoms rose and fell, and hundreds of large and small wars occurred, civilizations prospered and perished.

A noble young man who appeared to be around ten years old came to her.

That was about ten years ago from now.

She was a woman who resided in the deepest part of a forbidden forest, where even ordinary humans, let alone beings of considerable stature, dared not approach. It was surprising to see a seemingly ordinary noble girl seeking her out.

“It’s been a while, Grandmaster.”

It was Diavel, the noble heiress who had been reborn as Belle.

Reborn with all her memories intact.

A sight unseen in her lifetime.

Even though she had lived for thousands of years without any erosion of memory, this mysterious phenomenon was unprecedented.

…Wait a moment.

Reborn with memories intact?

In that case…

Surely, she too!

Although she held such hope, she said, “No, that’s not it. The reason I have been reborn like this is due to an agreement with my master and the constraints it entails, as a pact of a demon.”

Because of the pact as a demon.

…Is that pact so strong?

Strong enough to be reborn just because of a promise not to die?

Other demons wouldn’t have been like that.

Is it because of the bloodline of the Demon King?

While there were separate fundamental reasons for Diavel’s rebirth, the witch accepted his words as they were spoken, as it was the first time she had seen such a sight.

Well, if he has been reborn, he will surely come to see me.

…He will, won’t he?

Somehow, she felt that even if he were to be reborn on this continent, he might not recognize my existence, perhaps due to his subtly clueless nature.

“I thought that by dying, I could finally go and meet my master. I never thought the pact would interfere like this.”

Diavel, who came to see her again, said that he was looking for a way to die.

The pact lingering in his soul hindered him from taking his own life.

And if someone tried to kill him, the pact would momentarily awaken the Demon King’s blood, preventing the attack.

Diavel claimed he had tried every possible method.

He asked her to tell him how he could go to meet his master.

Going to meet that guy…

If I knew that method, I would have gone first.

Not sitting idle as the witch’s successor for thousands of years in a place like this.

…But still, if it’s him.

The witch told Diablo about what she had long dreamed of.

The “destruction” of the world.

If the collapse extends beyond just nations crumbling and renders the continent itself irreparable.

If there is a level where neither I nor Diablo are bound by the constraint of having to survive.

Then we can be liberated and find peace.

To go to the underworld…and meet that guy.

Taking the lives of tens of millions of people on the continent just to meet the man she loves.

Such a thing was no problem for her, who had lived for thousands of years with a complete lack of ethics.

Rather, the problem was that it was extremely difficult to fulfill the condition of the “destruction” of the world.

No matter how exceptional a great witch she might be, it was impossible for her to fight against the entire world and destroy a whole world.

The witch was simply bound by her wish as a witch, hoping for such a day to come.

“Destruction…”

Diablo murmured upon hearing the witch’s plan.

“If it seems difficult, find another way. I’m just thinking about it too.”

Even if it’s him, destroying an entire world is tough.

…Well, even so, the “destruction” of the world is on a different level.

Compared to herself, who had longed for only one man for thousands of years, she thought Diablo wouldn’t be so desperate.

“But.”

“Huh? You’re going to do it?”

“If it’s to meet the master.”

Diablo replied with a stern face.

“I can do anything. Even if it means slaughtering tens of millions of innocent lives…I’ll probably get scolded by the master, though.”

And so, ten years ago, the grand undertaking of the two women began.

For the “destruction.”

To meet one man.

Of course, unaware that the man had already been reincarnated and had come to this continent.

Now back to the present.

“Let’s start with the story of ‘destruction’ first.”

“Sure.”

“The plan for ‘destruction’ has been canceled… No, I hope it’s just postponed.”

“…Postponed? Have you lost your mind?”

The witch asked, as if bewildered by Diablo’s words.

“A reason has arisen.”

“A reason. Alright. Let’s hear what the reason is.”

“I found it.”

“You found it? What?”

Surely it’s not that she found another man or discovered a different goal in life.

…Certainly, unlike me, he wouldn’t be fixated only on V.

From the start, it’s not like I like him as a man or feel obligated to follow him because of my parents.

Sip

The witch elegantly raised her wine glass and sipped the wine while maintaining a composed appearance.

But then, this would be a bit awkward without Diablo, progressing with the ‘destruction’…

“I met my master. More precisely, my reborn master.”

Clang

The witch’s glass fell to the ground and shattered.

“What?”

The witch, who had shown only a relaxed demeanor to everyone except Versus, looked at Diablo with shaking eyes.

“S-say it again. You met… who?”

“My master. My beloved master has returned to this world.”

* * *

Office of the Headmaster, Lichten Academy

“I see…”

Headmaster Beatrice sat behind a disproportionately large desk for her small stature.

In front of her, Robina and Versus were explaining the attack related to Diablo.

I never would have thought such a thing could happen within the academy.

The trustworthy student council president trying to bring about the end of the world?

The power Diablo displayed just moments ago.

It was a level of power beyond what a human could possess.

Natural disasters, cataclysms.

It was a chilling power that could easily destroy a country, no, even a continent.

To think he has that kind of power at his age.

However, she wasn’t the only one shocked.

“In that case, students Robina and Versus, how did you come to possess that level of ability?”

“Um… it’s a little complicated to explain.”

Versed hesitated.

Can I explain what’s happening to the principal right now?

Beatrice, who appeared in [Eclipse], was someone who could help him.

However, in this world, which was quite different from what he had seen in the novel, he couldn’t be sure that she would help him completely.

His experience as a mercenary secretary made him want to pour everything out to the principal.

His experience as a knight secretary made him want to trust the principal and confide in him.

“What should I do?”

At the moment Versed was pondering…

Crash!

“Your Highness!”

“Versed!”

The connections from their past lives broke into the principal’s office.