Golden Branch (4)

“You like being a pet? Well, I mean. Among the Demons I know, there are a lot of those kinds of, um- I’ve seen a lot, though.”

“As I’ve said repeatedly, you don’t need to rack your brain for the right words, you know. Anyway. As you said, ‘that kind’ of hobby is quite common among Demons, I know.”

“There are a few Demons who have the same hobby-“

“I don’t need it. What’s the point when it’ll just end in a slaughter where we kill each other? Though I’ll be the one doing the killing.”

I followed the faint melody of light flowing from the scrap of cloth. With the firm belief that the person I desired would be at the end. And that blind faith, which was everything, solidified my reason.

“I’m tired of that. Dying, killing, dying. It’d be nice if I could just break down and become a rag, but there’s no world where only I break down.”

“…How about reigning as King?”

“Boring.”

• Kuk-kuk.

A slightly collapsing laugh escaped, and the smile I had built up trembled faintly.

And then it collapsed again.

I didn’t make any expression, but the corners of my mouth drooped so low that I could even feel the weight.

“Before coming here. I made a promise.”

“A promise, -yo?”

“Yeah. A promise to change the world. I don’t know what you want from me, but you must have wanted a better world than this.”

Derais showed a slightly uneasy expression.

Wasn’t what humans called ‘better’ about rejecting and driving out Demons, and then occupying this territory? At least to Demons, ‘holy war’ only felt like a territorial dispute.

I whispered with a contemptuous expression.

“The child I promised… isn’t the kind of child who would be bound by human standards. A free child. A child as free as the wind.”

I feel the light. The flow of light continued quite far. And the closer I got to the center, the stronger the smell became.

• Kwajik.

I reached out and grabbed the flow.

“I’ve been thinking about it all along. How to change the world, I mean. I know it’s not a world soft enough for someone like me to change.”

“Shouldn’t we just smash all the bastards we don’t like?”

“That’s what I’ve been doing like breathing. Even though I’ve mastered magic, the path I’ve walked has always been one of destruction. Destroying me, destroying enemies, giggling in the remaining wreckage…”

The virtue of destruction is hope for those who will be reborn.

There was no hope in my life.

“What do you think magic is?”

“Ye?”

Derais twitched his eyebrows at the sudden question.

“…Isn’t it about shooting fire and ice from your hands, that kind of thing?”

“You’re a Demon, so your thinking is one-dimensional, huh.”

I sighed in a pathetic voice, then spread out the hand that was holding the flow of light.

• Peleoleog.

“A butterfly?”

A butterfly contaminated with magic flew into the sky.

“Magic is creation. That’s all. It’s an absolute law that anyone who wields magic must engrave in their heart.”

The butterfly fell not far away and fluttered its wings. Soon, the butterfly turned to dust and disappeared.

“As expected, it’s still incomplete. But I think I can get better with more practice.”

“Are you going to use magic, -geomkka?”

“How I use it will be the most important thing. And how I accept it too.”

I wasn’t just spacing out on the mountaintop. The unimaginable power flowing in from all over Pandemonium right below had an effect on every part of my body, whether I liked it or not.

“When you have too much power, you sometimes forget what to do. It’s like giving too much freedom and wandering in reverse.”

Being eroded by magic. That was what Shuriel was most wary of. It could happen to anyone who faced the Demon race. Of course, I’m no exception.

But… I’m an Archmage. A transcendent who has mastered all the magic of all things. If I can overcome the compatibility with Mana and wield two powers infinitely. And if even that becomes perfect.

“If I can handle both the upper and lower worlds, both opposing realms, then deceiving the World Tree or the Human God wouldn’t be impossible.”

“Deceive their eyes?”

“You don’t have to try to fix the broken world. Let’s just overwrite it. A semi-permanent illusion with a mixed reality.”

• Paseuses…

The black magic that flowed from my eyes and covered my toes decreased. The magic was soon sucked back into my eyes. My skin became slightly pale, and my body became as cold as ice.

To handle Mana and magic at the same time, I needed to make half of my body like a Demon. Not just my body, but my mind as well.

You could say it’s a process of separating personalities and integrating them back into one.

After a few trials and errors, I saw my newly transformed body. Other than my skin being slightly pale, there was nothing particularly different… Oh yeah, I got horns. A single half-horn. It was big enough to cover one side of my head.

“The last choice of those who fear change is escape… If there’s no paradise in the place you’ve escaped to, then why not just create it yourself?”

The new power came with a small price. The pain that pierced my head became as familiar as my own. I felt quite a bit of futility at this fact. Pain becoming familiar. Even when facing death, the pain that seemed to stand silently by my side became familiar.

“So… let’s start over.”

Derais tilted his head again.

“Then what will happen to us?”

“You’ll move and live as I wish. There’s no need to worry. I’ll overwrite your unconsciousness so you won’t even be aware of it. And even I won’t realize that fact, so we’ll return to the perfect beginning.”

I tilted my head.

“But before that, I need to meet him and act spoiled. Kiss, mix bodies, and put that big thing inside me and treat me like an object. It’s been too, too long. But――.”

• Kadeuk.

I ground my teeth and stopped walking.

“―I can’t see him?”

I trace the flow. Right now, the place where I am has a strong concentration of light energy.

The battlefield has passed. After the battle with Raum, there was no way Shuriel, who used the power of the Hero, would be okay. At the very least, he had to take a break. But I couldn’t see Shuriel, let alone anything else.

“It’s like, he’s running away.”

The flow of light falling from the cloth moved a long distance in an instant. It was too far to have gone to subjugate Barfeugos.

I couldn’t even hear the sound of fighting. There was no energy of swords clashing or divine power exploding. The flow of light was just getting further and further away.

“Fucking. Gnats. Trying. To ruin. The plan.”

* * *

The sound of rupture brushing past my ears quickly followed behind. I didn’t have the courage to turn my head.

Yujin.

The monster that even three Executors couldn’t dare to oppose was swallowing up the ground and chasing after us.

“What did I say? We should have killed him when we had the chance!”

“…That’s a meaningless assumption.”

“If that guy wakes up and orders him, he’ll listen to anything. Right?”

“Lael. Aileen is listening.”

• Kigigig!

The ground they stepped on crumbled, twisted, and disappeared.

Prukaise shouted, breathing heavily.

“That’s magic! What’s going on?! Is he trying to become the Demon King or something?”

At that time, the horn flickered and a childish voice was heard.

―It’ll be okay if we just go to the Margrave’s territory.

“You want me to believe that now?”

―It’s not a matter of believing or not. Mom always thinks about Dad. She won’t go wild if only Dad is okay. The reason she’s chasing us is because of Dad.

“Then why don’t we just hand him over right away?!”

Aileen continued with a troubled face.

―Dad doesn’t want that.

“I hate to say this, but we shouldn’t have abandoned that magician in the mountains if that’s the case.”

Aileen couldn’t continue and shut her mouth tightly.

―Mom.

And a few seconds later, she said in a trembling voice.

―Mom is, too strong.

“…Can’t you tell by looking?”

―Dad was worried about that. Because Mom showed antipathy towards the Imperial Palace. She already showed with her whole body that she was above them.

Prukaise bit his teeth. Overwhelming power breeds fear… It was a common trope.

“What’s wrong with that? Are you worried about being purged? Those old stories don’t work anymore! No, it’s impossible! You’d have to bet the country to get rid of a monster like that?”

―Monster, monster… Hey, Lael.

Aileen said to Prukaise, who was constantly getting angry.

In a low, slightly angry tone.

―The Mom you see and the Mom the world sees are no different.

There was no way the world wouldn’t know the part that she knew best.

―Dad doesn’t want Mom to live as a monster. But to Mom, who treats the world like soft glass, no matter what you say, it’s just an ant’s struggle. Even Dad.

There was no murderous intent in the attacks that followed. No, there wasn’t even room for other emotions to intervene. There was only one thing she wanted, Shuriel. Pawin felt a huge obsession that was almost terrifying.

―So he was trying to prove it.

“Prove what?”

―That he’s someone she can willingly believe in and entrust herself to. Not as a mere ant, but on an equal footing. Furthermore, to become a hero for only one person.

“But―”

―He was clumsy.

Aileen closed her eyes tightly.

―According to the original plan, we shouldn’t have brought Mom with us, but we couldn’t do that. Dad couldn’t abandon Mom. It was also unexpected that Mom awakened magic.

Shuriel, who is an Aura Knight, an Executor, and now even eyeing the position of Hero, was human.

―Dad is the same in that he can’t abandon the person who loves him. So please don’t criticize his clumsiness.

“…I’m going crazy.”

Prukaise let out a deep sigh.

“So, what’s the plan?”

―We need to persuade Mom. Without handing over Dad. First, please return to a safe location. If I’m seeing it right, Mom isn’t completely corrupted. She won’t invade the Margrave’s territory with magic on her body.

After speaking, Aileen licked her lips and made irregular breathing sounds.

“What’s wrong?”

―…I have a bad feeling.

“You have a bad feeling?”

―I feel a high-density illusion magic. But it’s okay. Dad’s horn completely blocks the surrounding mental abnormality techniques. The World Tree Auntie’s branch is extremely compatible with magic…

At that time, Aileen suddenly stopped talking.

“What is it? Since earlier.”

Then, she closed her eyes tightly.

―…Where are we going right now?