episode_0007

“Will you join us in prayer?”

The saint asked. As he did every day, he smiled softly.

It’s truly amazing. How on earth is that smile the only thing that shines brightly in this dark Tartarus? Looking at his gaunt complexion, it doesn’t seem like he’s overflowing with divine power.

“Okay, I don’t believe in God.”

“The Lord is in your heart, so just compare it to what you truly want to believe.”

“I’m the only one who believes in me? Are you telling me to pray to myself now?”

“Anyway, it’s better than nothing.”

The saint forced a black rosary into my right hand, which was bound by chains. Then he gently grabbed my big hand with his two small hands.

The saint licked her small lips.

“Relax your hands.”

“I didn’t apply much force?”

“The rosary doesn’t go anywhere. Is there any reason to make a fist?”

“Kick, that’s right.”

I guess I was habitually putting pressure on my right hand. It’s a habit I developed because I started fighting every time I closed my fist.

“Demon, there is something I would like to tell you about fists. Do you mind if I tell you?”

“Try it, why not?”

“If you close your fist tightly, nothing will remain in it, but if you open your palm, you will be able to capture the world.”

As if conveying the sacred gospel, the saint spoke with a flushed face.

“That’s true, but there’s one thing the saint doesn’t know.”

Since that was a bit of a waste, I came up with my own answer. It was an answer completely contrary to the saint’s thoughts.

“The fist is meant to hit the arrogant people holding something like beating a dog. Didn’t you know?”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. money? Riches? authority? What’s so important about that? Those guys who brag about having a few coins are disgusting.”

“That’s an interesting thing to say.”

Phew, the saintess laughed. She never says anything I say is wrong.

“Then just pray.”

“Thank you for your consideration.

“Now, try following along.”

The saint placed her forehead against my right hand holding the rosary and began to murmur faithfully. In the meantime, he tapped my waist as if telling me to follow him, so I reluctantly opened my mouth.

I have lived and lived and prayed all the time, so I will live a long time and see. It doesn’t feel a little cheap considering it’s the price of living for 500 years.

“Lord, you gave me a precious day, and I, a humble servant, dare to express my gratitude.”

“Chaos, the god of chaos, please pour out your tears and flood this damned continent.”

“Please give mercy and grace to this poor little lamb.”

“If you don’t, I’ll blow up your altar first… Holy woman, why do you keep making me a miserable person?”

“Give me the foolish wisdom to repent these demons, please.”

Oh, the foolish and pitiful loser, and who is repenting for who?

penitence? There’s no way it could be like that. I am Oscar Lucifer, the second-in-command of the Demon Lord’s army. Grand Duke of the Northern Demon World. Joker with a glass of frivolous blood. I am the one who plunged the continent into the chaos of an apocalypse, so I have to dream of having even the slightest possibility.

“Saint, I have received a request to visit you.”

While praying a prayer that did not sound like a prayer with the saint, a deep Celtic sound penetrated my ears.

Celt’s voice was trembling. It seemed like he was suppressing his uncontrollable anger.

… anger? why?

Even when Lilith, the Princess of the Demon World, came, Celt showed only slight hostility. I can’t believe he’s showing his emotions so openly.

It seems that the person visiting this time is not an ordinary person.

“Please come in.”

“… Come in.”

Upon receiving the saint’s permission, Kelt looked beyond the iron bars and spoke. Although it was only a single word, it was clear that Celtic’s voice contained many fierce emotions.

“Yes.”

Jeopuk-.

The image of a girl slowly appeared in Tartarus.

“Ma, Maria? Are you Maria?”

The girl and the visitor spoke in a cautious tone.

As always, the saintess, who was in front of the iron bars this time, trembled at the voice she heard.

The girl’s appearance begins to come into view little by little in the darkness… what?

Why does he come here? With what face? With what shame?

“You… .”

The saint’s voice wavers slightly. Feelings of sadness, sadness, grief, and longing are dripping out of you.

I knew why.

“Hero?”

“Long time no see, Maria.”

“Yes, it’s been a while.”

“How have you been?”

As she spoke, the girl glanced at the saint and lowered her voice gloomily when she saw the red-brown bandage covering the saint’s eyes.

“Looking at it, it doesn’t seem like that… .”

“… It’s not something the warrior should feel sorry for.”

“In the end, it’s all because of me… .”

“It’s okay.”

The saint’s voice quickly calmed down. But there was a strange feeling hidden deep inside.

“It’s all in the past.”

I thought I knew what that strange feeling was.

resentment.

No matter how kind the saint may be, even if she feels many sad and pitiful emotions towards the hero.

The betrayal of the most trusted colleague is not something that can be easily forgotten. It’s on a different level from Lilith’s commander-in-chief.

“Umm… that… Maria. That’s why I came today… .”

The warrior’s vocal cords shake as if sobbing. With great difficulty, the warrior says something he seemed to have prepared.

“I’m sorry… . I really wanted to say this… .”

“Is that so?”

“Gu, I saw hope when I beat the corps commander! but… You saw it too! The devil!”

“Demon King, what do you mean?”

“The overwhelming majesty of the red horn rising high as if piercing the clouds, and the mist spouting from the black eyes covering the sky! You saw it together too!”

“I saw it.”

“Ugh… ! I’m sorry! I didn’t come here to say this… You keep making excuses… .”

Frey de Siegfried.

The eldest daughter of Duke Siegfried, a family that contributed to the founding of the empire, and a genius who graduated second in honors after a saint at Eden Academy, the highest academy in the empire.

A monster who was raised to be a warrior from a young age, born from a combination of unprecedented talent, excellent teachers, and the best education.

… However, in the end, you are just a loser.

Fray de Siegfried, the ‘undaunted warrior’ who led the ‘warrior party’ including the saint and defeated all kinds of adversity.

In the last war, he was so frightened by the Demon King that he bowed down with his head on the ground and became a ‘servant warrior.’

The Continental Allied Forces, having lost their central point, disintegrated into pieces and were conquered one by one by the Demon King’s army.

Although the Holy Kingdom put up a strong resistance until the last moment, even that was thwarted when Holy Emperor Julius surrendered by cutting off his own arm.

Saint Mary, pushed to the edge of a cliff, fights alone against the devil’s army for twenty days and is eventually captured by the evil duke.

And, he became a death row inmate like me.

In the midst of these dark situations.

A saint who did not abandon the continent until she lost all her power, and a warrior who lowered his tail as soon as he faced the Demon King.

How can we reunite on good terms?

“I’m sorry… I’m really sorry… .”

“Warrior.”

Of course, if you look at the causal relationships one by one, I am the main enemy here. Because I was the one who tormented those two the most.

In fact, it was I who divided the Continental Allied Forces through a plan of succession. People on the continent believe that this was done by a schemer called ‘Beerus’.

That ‘beerus’ is also one of the many masks I wear.

But what… No one knows I’m the Joker anyway, so who cares? As long as the results are good, that’s enough.

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Uh, huh?”

“What is truly important is to look back on your mistakes and regret them.”

“But I… Too many people died because of my wrong choices!”

“With the intention of apologizing to them, please make everything right now. That is the best atonement a warrior can make.”

Wow, that saintess is even showing mercy to the warrior.

what? Get everything right? This is nothing short of nonsense.

It’s already late. The Demon King took over the continent, and the warrior party was all killed, or if they survived, they were crippled like saints. What do you mean by turning back now?

Perhaps aware of that fact, the hero answers in a tearful voice.

“Ha, but… Maria… .”

However, the content is.

“I… You’re so scary… ?”

It was quite different from what the saint had earnestly requested.

“The devil is strong… Neither the magic tower lord nor the teacher was a match for me. What can I do alone… ?”

“Hero. If you give in to fear, nothing will happen.”

“Maria lost too! Finally!”

“… .”

“Well, even that strong Maria lost… Maria, who uses the power of the sun god, also became like this… What can I, a weak warrior, do? .”

The saintess’s brows narrowed. The warrior’s voice was tinged with despair and defeat.

“What can I do?!”

Suddenly, the hero shouted. Tartarus was filled with a roar so loud that it felt like eardrums were falling off.

Maybe it was because he shouted for a moment, but the warrior opened his mouth as if he had suddenly come to his senses.

“Ah… ! I’m sorry! Ma, Maria stayed alone until the end… ! I know you don’t have the right to say this to me… ! Still, I keep feeling disgusted with myself… !”

Like a child who has nowhere to go, the warrior’s voice flutters in the middle of nowhere. It was a voice that seemed lost.

The warrior’s voice was a mixture of many complex emotions.

“My, I shouldn’t be like this… ! Sorry! I’m really sorry! I apologize!”

The warrior slams his head into the floor in front of the iron cage where the saintess is standing. Although she was a blind saint, she seemed to be fully aware of the situation going on through the voices she heard and the vibrations felt through the floor.

“Warrior.”

“Maria… I’m sorry… .”

The warrior’s voice sobs desperately.

“The Lord has given you too harsh a trial.”

“Ugh… Maria… .”

“No matter how much the world praises him as a hero… You are still just a child with a tender heart.”

The warrior’s voice trembles. It’s as if he’s trying to act pitiful.

Toward such a hero, the saintess extends an invisible hand. As if trying to pet me.

“Maria… Sorry… .”

“Don’t worry. I will bless you… .”

“Fuck.”

“… ?”

“Demon?”

“Right now, stop doing that nonsense.”

“What, what?”

“Demon? What do you mean by that?”

“You have to do it in moderation, in moderation.”

Shaken, depressed, then excused.

I cried, despaired, trembled, and sobbed.

The warrior evokes all those emotions ‘only with his voice.’

With the corners of my mouth curled up to my ears, I wore a mean smile that resembled my trademark clown smile.

He poops so fucking hard.

Showing your emotions with just your voice.

Instead of apologizing, he acted like a hero who fell asleep.

The gaze of the saint who had sincerely tried to bless the warrior was staring with gleeful eyes as if she were abandoning him.

“You say you’re sorry, but why do you keep tearing things apart?”

I don’t like it. It’s so, so uncomfortable.

The hero’s hypocrisy?

“You have an inferiority complex towards saints, right? Is it still bittersweet that you graduated second in class at Eden Academy after being pushed out by a saint? Is that why?”

no.

The fact that the saint is being played.

The fact that the saint is despised.

The damn fact that a saint is being played by someone!

It’s a little, a lot, a lot, really annoying.

“Yes, who are you! What right do you have to say such rude things… !”

“Me?”

Why am I meddling for the saint’s sake?

Why do I hate seeing her being made fun of?

“Open your damn eyes and take a good look, see who I am.”

Why am I coming forward even though I can clearly see that my identity will be discovered by the saint?

I’m not even close to the saint.

… Between the stars?

It’s right between the stars. The saint and I are ‘prison comrades’. He is even a comrade of Tartarus. It is a relationship like no other in the world.

“Isn’t there something like facial recognition disorder? So I’m a bit disappointed?”

Yes, the saint and I have a special relationship. It is very natural for me to step up for her. Because we have a very, very special and close relationship.

“Who are you? You, you!!”

For the first time since entering Tartarus, the hero shows sincere emotions.

Deep astonishment appears on the warrior’s face.

Yes, that’s real. The warrior’s true feelings are revealed on the hero’s face, which are fundamentally different from what he had been doing until now, when the saintess was only sobbing and smiling wickedly, taking advantage of the fact that she was blind.

“Joker!! Why is the Grand Duke of the Northern Demon World in Tartarus!!”