episode_0185

I don’t know what happened.

The moment I decided to face Donggui, Sylvia appeared before my eyes.

Between me and the devil.

Sylvia intervened where the life-threatening blow was about to collide.

Just be surprised for a moment.

Perhaps the Demon King was also confused, and his movements were halted.

It slowed down thanks to reaching Sylvia.

Aiming for that opportunity, I turned the inertia I was about to cut to the side and spun around.

As soon as I grabbed the Demon King’s side, I thrust my sword in.

-Phew!

I saw Sylvia’s upper and lower body being separated, but I didn’t have time to check.

You must kill the demon lord here.

He pushed the sword deeper and pushed it deeper.

“Keuheuk… .”

The Demon King groans, grabs the sword with his hand, and pushes it away.

You must not be pushed away.

Life flowed into the magic sword.

My brain feels like it’s burning.

I bit my teeth so hard to hold it back.

As one eye became blurred, my grip on the sword became stronger.

The sword went deeper and deeper, finally reaching the center of the ribcage.

I pulled it out by cutting it backwards.

Wow, blood splatters out violently.

It’s not over yet.

He went back, cut off his shoulders, and separated his shaky upper body from his lower body.

The Demon King’s upper body fell forward, and his lower body fell backwards.

“Ha, ha… . Phew… .”

My hands are shaking.

Although I received the mana transfer, it is different from the physical fatigue.

I was almost at my limit too.

Because of wearing Tyrbing, I can barely see in one eye.

He turned over the fallen Demon King’s body with his feet and aimed another sword at his neck.

“Big black… !”

The demon king turned over and violently coughed up blood.

The resemblance is eerie, except for the eyes.

I have to kill him right away, but I have so many questions.

I don’t know if they will answer or not.

“… Ian.”

Surprisingly, he spoke first.

It laughed loudly when it called my name.

“Writing my name and calling others who look like me by my name. I feel quite dirty.”

Even the way you speak and your voice.

There is no corner that is not the same.

“… Who are you?”

I asked.

The Demon King frowned slightly.

“Even the voice is eerily similar. … Did you really think the same thing as me?”

“Yes. I feel so bad.”

“Cluck… . okay. Is it ‘me’ after all? .”

He thrust the sword aimed at his neck deeper.

Blood flows from a slightly cut neck.

“Are you anxious?”

The Demon King asked with a grin.

“It’s strange that I’m not anxious. If it were me, I would know.”

“… okay. I thought so. It’s just that it’s fascinating. There was no ‘me’ like you.”

“Can you explain it in an easy-to-understand way? I want to end this damn thing quickly. If you’re going to drag it out, I don’t mind just killing it. Even if you don’t get a few answers, you won’t have any trouble living.”

“… You know what? I just thought about what I would do if I were you, and you said the same thing.”

“… … .”

Was I a person who teased and scratched others like this?

… It seems to be true.

“Time to talk… It’s not long. Do you remember the old days?”

“They said it wasn’t long, but it was full of memories… . In the past… .”

I looked around for a moment.

Everyone is watching this place as if they will come down or not.

“Are you talking about the second round?”

“Yes. I killed so many people.”

“… … .”

“I think I’m probably making a rough guess. Would you like to guess?”

The expression “lost timeline.”

The actions and personality of ‘me’ in that journal are very similar to mine.

So I vaguely guessed that the speaker was another ‘me’.

It may be an absurd fact, but this is the only conclusion I have come to.

“This is my… Isn’t it the third time? .”

“This is almost the correct answer. In reality, it would be the 3rd time. Our third round was like nothing that ever happened.”

It laughed and added as if it were in vain.

“Because it was lost.”

“Journal of the lost timeline… . Did you send that?”

“No way. Do you think I’m that kind? It’s just a part of memory that can be seen as a ‘fragment of time’ uttered by a dead god.”

“Dead God?”

The Demon King grinned as if he was amused by my question.

“Sea dragon. That guy who appeared in the western sea is a young god.”

“… … .”

“When it grows up, it will be reborn as a true god dragon.”

Dragons are creatures that are only mentioned in legends in this world.

It may seem obvious, but was that the true god of this world?

… Dragon.

Wait, dragon?

“By any chance, is it also a dragon that comes to seek compensation for killing the Demon King?”

“You’re very smart.”

“… Then did you meet the black dragon?”

At that question, the Demon King frowned and looked up at me.

“How did you know that?”

“I saw it in a dream.”

While I was suffering from death after being attacked by a manticore, I had many dreams.

I don’t remember everything.

I remember it sporadically, as if it had been cut in the middle, and even that was vague.

But then I saw something that could definitely be called a black dragon.

That dragon came to visit me in my dreams.

The Demon King slowly nodded, as if he had any inkling from the statement that he had collapsed.

“I see. It seems that while my body was weakening, old memories seeped into me at will. I think it was Manticore time. Yes, that’s right. That guy was the god who came to me.”

The Demon King glared at the sky, probably thinking about that time.

After glaring for a while, he relaxed his eyes and spoke slowly.

“I killed the demon king, and the black snake head came looking for me.”

Does that mean that the white object you saw in your dream was the devil?

“… Oh, and while I’m at it, I wasn’t the devil from the beginning.”

“Perhaps it is white… Was that lump of light the devil?”

“Did you even see that? Yes, that’s right. That’s me… , no. It was a lump of human resentment that we killed.”

“… … .”

“Anyway… . The black lizard offered a reward. Either stay here or return to the original world. That was the only option. I was curious about one thing more than that. Why did I fall into this world?”

The Demon King was silent for a moment, as if he remembered that time.

A clear look of irritation appeared on his face.

I also remember that moment.

In my dream, I asked God, and God answered what.

“Have you also heard this answer?”

“Unfortunately I didn’t hear it.”

“I see. I assure you, it would be better to hear it from me later than from God directly.”

While talking with the Demon King, I interpreted some parts of the journal that I did not know because they had been filtered.

Gods and dragons, curses, things like that.

And if my interpretation is correct, this guy killed God after hearing that answer.

This is what happened to me for killing God, so I won’t make the same mistake.

To begin with, I am not as strong as I was in the past, when I killed a demon lord and a god with my own hands.

If the image of me in the dream I saw back then was me in the past, even this demon lord would have less than 1/100 of the power I had back then.

“What did you say?”

The Demon King grinned and said.

“Just.”

“Just?”

“Yes. They just said they brought it here.”

“… … .”

“By their standards, it doesn’t mean there is no purpose at all. I said I was bored, so I wanted to take a weak person from a completely different level and see them suffer.”

How is that any different from just that?

The Demon King added as if he were empty and smiled weakly.

… It’s just that.

Certainly, it would be difficult to remain silent if I heard that answer right in front of my eyes.

Especially if you have the power to do so.

“So you killed him?”

“I get angry sometimes. I was also curious. Does God die, what happens when he dies, things like that. I killed him, but the situation after that wasn’t easy.”

Grumbling, the Demon King laughed helplessly and vomited out blood.

“In return for killing God, my once one soul was divided and scattered throughout the timeline.”

“… … .”

“And I became the devil, and was cursed to be chained here and waiting for ‘me’ to come to kill me.”

“What are you talking about? Then I… .”

“Hmm.”

The Demon King let out a painful groan as if it was difficult to explain.

In the meantime, I also briefly summarized what I heard.

The third time, I killed the demon king with my own hands.

After hearing the cause of the metastasis from the god who appeared to give compensation, he became so feverish that he even killed the god.

In return, my soul was split into countless pieces and scattered throughout the timeline.

I understand up to this point.

My memories before the transfer were unnaturally blurry, and I could never become stronger than that.

But, what does it mean for those scattered souls to become demon lords… .

“So.”

The Demon King opened his mouth with a sigh.

“It’s such a curse.”

“Such a curse?”

“The ‘I’ who has memories and is waiting for me as the Demon King, and the me who has no memories and sets out to find ‘Me’ with only the mission of killing the Demon King. It is a curse in which torn selves are destined to fight to restore their souls as one. Doesn’t it really fit the purpose of just bringing it here for fun?”

The Demon King finished speaking and laughed self-deprecatingly.

“Is it unfair?”

“… Well.”

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel unfair.

It doesn’t feel too realistic.

A soul, a timeline, a god.

I haven’t experienced it myself.

I got a glimpse of it through a dream, and I only know it indirectly through this guy’s mouth.

Or maybe it’s because I thought that if I were this guy, I would have done the same thing.

This lying figure could have been me.

It’s not that I’ve never thought like a demon lord.

Couldn’t I kill everyone, steal everything, monopolize everything, and kill the devil myself?

I lived like that in the second round as well.

But wasn’t that enough?

So, if I live worse than that, will I be able to kill the devil with my own hands?

That’s what I thought when I started this episode.

It folded quickly.

I wanted to quit killing people, saying it was for the future and that I would be rewarded with peace.

Kill him because he will be a hindrance later.

Because I have what I need, they hurt me and then steal it.

Because I took something that someone else should have, that person died.

I hated all of that.

Just thinking about it makes me exhausted.

But I already killed the Demon King through that act, and in the end, I was cursed and ended up like this.

“… Maybe.”

The Demon King, who had been waiting for my silence, spoke in a weak voice.

“You might be the answer.”

The Demon King looked around at the group above, looking down at me.

“Others are unpredictable variables, so I was careful not to keep them aside. I didn’t want to be close to him because I was afraid he might be someone I killed in the past.”

“… It was like that.”

It’s a strange conversation.

Because we are the same being, we talk about the same past, but it feels like a different person’s story.

The Demon King laughed.

“Yes, it was like that… . It was like that. But, I don’t know if that’s the right answer. Because the people you fell in love with were completely unpredictable.”

If I had monopolized everything like this guy and stood here, would I have been able to win?

Could it be that the guy who had already succeeded by following the same path as me couldn’t beat me, who had grown up in the same way?

Probably not.

It’s easy to predict myself, but it’s hard to predict others other than myself.

“Should we produce more troops? Should I use my remaining power now to explode the Demon King’s Castle? Should I defend or attack? . How on earth can I win… . There was absolutely nothing certain.”

“Make troops?”

“Do you remember the tentacles stuck in my body?”

When the Demon King was just revealed, he clearly had thousands of tentacles on his back.

Something that looks like a blood vessel.

When I nod my head, the Demon King answers.

“You can create monsters or portals through it. The price, of course, is my life force.”

After hearing the answer, I found out a few more things about the contents of the hidden journal.

‘Was the Demon King used as food for monsters and portals? It was his own power that made the Demon King Castle explode… .’

He couldn’t come up with an answer easily.

How much power should I reserve and how much should I expend?

This is thanks to someone else who is difficult for me to predict.

“I have one question. why… Did you wait for me on purpose?”

To be honest, it’s not that there was no answer at all.

Immediately after exploding the Demon Castle.

If the Demon King unilaterally killed the fallen humanity back then, it would be me, not the Demon King, who was defeated now.

But why… .

“… I was curious.”

“Are you curious?”

“You may not know, but I have been watching you from time to time. The portal was the only way for me to peek outside as I was trapped. So, what kind of person am I, who has lived an altruistic life? How will people react to that altruism? I was very curious.”

“… … .”

“I wanted to check if he would really come. How would the altruistic ‘I’ react in this situation? Surely if it were me, I would know that this is an unlikely fight. No matter how much duty you feel, will you not back down and step forward even when death is more important than survival? If I knew anyone, I wouldn’t do that. Things like that.”

“… … .”

“… Or.”

The Demon King’s voice dispersed like a sigh.

“I guess I’m just tired.”

I was given a mission to kill the devil.

If I fail, the cost is that I will disappear and the world will be destroyed.

So, what is the price for ‘me’ becoming a demon lord?

“Eternal extinction (永滅).”

He said, as if reading my thoughts.

“If you are defeated, the portion of my soul that belongs to this timeline will be absorbed by you and disappear forever. That’s the price of defeat. Actually, you are no different.”

… is it.

This is a fight for soul and soul.

The winning side absorbs the losing side.

My defeated soul will be absorbed by this guy and I will lose self-consciousness.

Your death is an extension of the era in which my survival becomes my survival.

“I was terribly afraid of that eternal destruction… , I’m not sure anymore. Do you know how disgusting it feels to have your consciousness spread throughout the infinite universe? I would rather be destroyed forever.”

So, maybe I should have waited. I’m so tired.

He ended it like that.

Does this guy still feel his consciousness spreading throughout the universe and his soul as a divided demon lord?

As someone who has no memories of that time or consciousness as a split soul, I can’t even imagine it.

He looked into the distance.

There was Sylvia, whose upper and lower body were separated.

“… Is that guy also precious?”

“… … .”

Sylvia.

Sylvia… .

I don’t know.

What kind of existence is it to me?

It was precious.

Even if it was out of a sense of responsibility, I definitely loved Sylvia.

It’s in the past.

But, after hearing those words… .

“… Well.”

“At least, it seems like you are important to that guy. … Now that I think about it, it’s surprising. Who would have thought that he would seduce Sylvia… .”

“You’re flirting.”

“You are a really great guy who treated those 4 eccentric people with sincerity in the first place. Even though he was relatively better among the Thirteen Evils, he was basically a crazy, homicidal maniac. I thought about betraying and absorbing the power in the end.”

“… Just because you and I are not that different from them.”

“Well.”

He grinned and pointed at Sylvia with his chin.

“Bring it in.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have no intention of harming you now, so bring me here.”

Sylvia was cold with her intestines spilling out.

The surrounding area is muddy with spilled blood.

I got down on one knee.

I tidied up the stray hair by sweeping it to the side.

Her exposed face was smiling.

Sylvia’s smile is so comfortable… It’s been a long time since I saw you.

I carefully held her upper and lower body in my arms.

The feeling of hugging a separated person was unpleasant and terrible.

It’s even confusing because the person died because of me.

‘Why on earth are you…? .’

I put aside my doubts and placed Sylvia next to the Demon King.

He lifted his remaining arm and placed it on Sylvia’s stump.

Then, a red earthworm-like thing began to wriggle and connect the upper and lower bodies.

“It is one of the abilities obtained by killing a god.”

“… That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”

“With this, I resurrected the four people I had betrayed and killed and used them as puppets.”

Reaper.

As expected, they were the same four people from the first hero party.

“Don’t worry. He’s going to die anyway, so I don’t plan on planting anything on this guy.”

“… Do you know that telling me to take it easy is the most unacceptable thing I’ve ever said?”

The Demon King laughed at that question.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m serious. If you’re really anxious, just kill me now.”

“… … .”

Why?

Is it because this guy is ‘me’?

I don’t think it’s a lie.

Before we knew it, Sylvia’s upper and lower body were completely connected.

Because her clothes were torn, her snow-white waist and stomach were still visible.

Clean and without any scars.

After finishing the work, the Demon King rummaged through his arms with trembling hands.

It’s something to be wary of, and I know what it’s looking for.

So, I gave him what he was looking for instead.

“… Ah.”

I put a sugar bar in my mouth.

“It’s the kindness you receive from me. I feel strange.”

Misread, misread.

The Demon King chewed the sugar bar and swallowed it.

The sun rose high and brightly illuminated his face.

Weakly drooping eye corners.

Empty focus.

Eyes blinking slowly.

He looks listless and exhausted.

“Maybe, after killing me, God will make an offer. Either stay here or go back. That’s all I know. … The choice is yours.”

I watched him in silence.

When he finally finished eating the sugar bar, he calmly closed his eyes.

He speaks like a sigh.

“… I’m tired.”

That was his will.

-Slap!

The tip of the sword that decapitated him stuck in the ground.

The detached head rolled on the floor.

“Master-!”

Katy, who was far away, almost rolled over and hugged me.

“Master… ! Master!”

“Ah… .”

Come to think of it, Katy was too close.

I was so tired that I forgot.

At this distance, I would have definitely heard everything… .

‘This…’ ‘How do I explain it?’

A timeline, a regression.

Above all, the dirty evil deeds I committed.

How do you do that… .

The words that Kati poured out while crying made my worries countenance.

“For me, I don’t care… . No matter who the master is, where he came from, or how he lived in the past… ! I just want you to stay alive in front of me like this… . Everything, I don’t care… .”

“… … .”

“I am sorry for being weak. I can’t help you, I have to help only my master, but I hesitate… . I-I’m sorry… .”

Everything is fine.

Wherever you come from, whoever you are.

An unstable soul.

Kati didn’t care if her desire to return was castrated by others.

“I’m sorry for not being able to protect you… .”

They accepted me as I am.

“… It’s okay.”

I raised my weak arm and stroked Kati’s head.

“Because it’s all over… . I won, so it’s okay.”

“Ian… .”

Suddenly, the group came down into the pit.

The first to approach was Vivian, who had slipped down the icy road.

She looked back and forth between me and the dead demon lord, scratching her cheek shyly and saying.

“Well, we heard it all too.”

“… Yes?”

“I heard it all the way up there… . I guess I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but for some reason I can’t stop… .”

“… … .”

… Is that why you didn’t come down and just watched?

“Well, I don’t really care… . I just heard it. For some reason, I feel like I need to tell you.”

The other group arrived at almost the same time.

Helena, Lucia.

And Kylie, Beatrice, and Aria.

Among them, Helena, who came running in a huff, spoke fiercely.

“Yes! It doesn’t matter if it’s true!”

“That’s right. Anyway, Ian is Ian now, right? I took a completely different path from this other Ian.”

Lucia grinned and shrugged her shoulders, as if it was no big deal.

Is it because I feel comfortable, or does it mean I trust myself that much?

Or maybe it really isn’t a big deal.

It is also true that there is no need to worry about the past, which has nothing to do with this world.

Whether it’s the first, second, or lost third.

Or maybe it’s the life before the transfer that I don’t even remember.

On the other hand, the three remaining members of the first party who had heard the same story were different.

Their expressions were miserably distorted.

“Ian, you… .”

“Even after knowing our past… .”

“Why are you treating us like that? .”

“Phew… . Since you heard it, you know it, right? I wasn’t a very nice person either.”

So, I didn’t lead them because I was a very kind person.

There is nothing particularly impressive to me about the present continuing from the past.

In the awkward atmosphere, a blue haze bloomed from the Demon King.

It bloomed like incense and slowly flowed into my body.

‘… ‘Is it a soul?’

The body absorbs the smoke.

No specific memories or consciousness flooded into me.

instead… .

‘Snow… ‘I’m fine now.’

As a result of using Tyrving, he lost his left vision.

I blinked a few times.

It’s not an illusion.

My left vision is clear.

My body was still tired, but the strength overflowing inside me was clearly different from before.

‘Did he even absorb the power…? .’

“Ian? Hey, are you okay?”

Vivian asked cautiously.

To others, it may be worth worrying about.

Because I just absorbed the devil’s soul.

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. I’m fine. No, it’s actually better than before.”

“Then I’m glad… .”

“Let’s go up first. Let’s talk about the accumulated stories later.”

The group’s gaze landed on Sylvia lying on the floor.

I carefully picked her up and lifted her, who had not yet woken up.

Small and light.

“Master… .”

Kati called me with a trembling voice.

I unconsciously rubbed my forehead to get rid of the crumpled look.

“Let’s go up first.”

As we climbed up the steep pit, we were greeted by a disconcerting sight.

Several warriors lined up and took aim at us.

After that, there were also reinforcements who were not originally here.

‘Judging by the formalities, they are not imperial troops, but allied soldiers sent from other partner countries… .’

They glared at us, or more precisely at me, as if they were wary.

The person who appeared to be the leader shouted loudly.

“Ian! The Human Coalition and the Imperial Family identify you as the Demon King or a demon equivalent to the Demon King and declare you an enemy! If you surrender obediently, we will guarantee you an honorable death, but if you refuse, we cannot guarantee a disaster!”

“… … .”

It’s absurd, but it’s understandable.

If you look at the results alone, I was the devil.

To them, I am more dangerous than anything else.

“ These bastards are going to chew on it… .”

Kylie growled out.

The number of opponents is quite large.

At least 100 people.

Some of the warriors here also joined us over there, probably because they were afraid of me.

From A level to SS level.

Although I absorbed the devil’s power, my physical strength is now at its limit.

Do you think you can win?

While I was so worried… .

[Ian.]

A voice split the sky and pounded on the ground.

The ground shakes.

And indeed, a huge body slowly descended through the sky.

“Dragon… .”

Someone muttered absentmindedly.

A golden dragon, dazzling than the sun rising in the distance, descended.

Its four legs are strong, and its pair of wings spread out is large enough to surround the castle.

The movement of the wings fluttering leisurely is strange.

It looks so big and heavy, but I can’t feel any force.

The wind doesn’t even blow when the wings flap.

It almost exactly coincides with the moment the black dragon descended in my dream.

A god who reigns over the laws of this world.

The golden dragon standing in the air looked down at me.

[It’s time to get paid.]

Rather than being happy, I felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

I had no idea that such a crowded place would come so openly.

[I will give you three options.]

… Three things?

Not two?