IntermissionA voice.
Within the darkness, a voice echoed.
"As long as you"re with me—as long as you"re by my side, that"s all I need."
"I feel the same... but..."
From somewhere, it was a dear voice.
Far away.
It seemed as if it were being heard from a distant place and time.
The voice echoed again.
The first voice was male.
From somewhere, a listless, tired voice. However, right now, in an urgent tone—
"If so, if so, then why..."
Then next was a female voice.
"Impossible... It"s impossible. As I thought, as I thought, I have to kill..."
Moreover, again, it was a dear voice, as thought. Somehow, he knew that even though it sounded if it were about to cry, she spoke in a kind voice.
Gazing at him, she placed her mouth by his ear and whispered in a truly kind voice.
"I love you more than anyone else in the world. My adorable boy."
In that instant, he remembered.
That—that was right.
These two people were his parents. Why had he forgotten such a simple thing?
Why?
Far away, remembering such a dear thing...
He opened his eyes.
The place he was in was the same as that when his eyes were closed: within darkness.
Vaguely.
It was incredibly vague.
It was like looking into a stagnating pool of water.
He trembled at that.
He didn"t like this darkness.
It was scary.
"I"m afraid to sleep alone, Mom, Dad..."
He murmured that.
Then, a lamp was lit.
Light tore through the darkness.
Inside a room.
Furthermore, it was a scene that he was very familiar with.
A well-arranged room.
Whatever he wanted, it was there.
If he said that he wanted it—no, even if he didn"t say anything, Dad would get it all.
A sewn teddy bear twice his size.
A clean, toy sword.
But what he loved most was a picture book full of the world"s fairy tales.
Each and every night, Dad and Mom promised that they would read to him from it.
The story of the hero who saved the world.
The story of the knight who single-handedly defeated a great army.
The story of the demon, demon king, monster, as it was called, who possessed power that surpa.s.sed human knowledge.
They were all stories of fantasy worlds.
He loved listening to those stories.
Hearing those stories at night, and then after rising in the morning, he"d have those stories read again and again. Before he knew it, he was able to read their contents by himself.
But he didn"t tell Dad or Mom.
After all, he loved being read to each night by Dad and Mom.
And each time, when the tale ended and as the night wore on, Mother would say,
"Now, that"s it for this tale."
"Eh—!? It"s already over? I want more. I want more~"
But Mom would shake her head, and,
"That won"t do. A child who doesn"t go to bed at night can"t become a hero, Ryner."
"Eh!? Really!?"
Then Mom would smile. With a face gentler than anyone else"s,
"So sleep well tonight. Now, close your eyes. Have sweet dreams. My adorable hero."
And.
Mom would kiss his forehead.
He loved that.
So he didn"t tell Dad and Mom that he could read.
He didn"t tell them that by now, he"d memorized all of the stories.
Instead, while rubbing at his half-asleep eyes, he said this.
"... Dad, Mom. I woke up... Read me a story again."
Whenever he said that, Mom would say,
"Oh dear, you woke up? But today"s tale has ended. We"ll go to bed together, and then you"ll fall asleep."
Saying that, they would sleep in the same bed together.
But looking at his mother"s face this time, it was a face that trembled in fear.
Then, it distorted into sorrow.
Pretty black hair. Long eyelashes, gentle black eyes.
From those black eyes, tears streamed.
He tilted his head at that.
"M-Mom... what... why? Why are you crying?"
At those words, Mom"s face was strained again.
For some reason, in her hand, she carried a knife. Gripping it tightly, Mom spoke in a trembling voice.
"I-I have to kill him... and together with this child, I"ll..."
But in response, Dad spoke.
"That"s impossible for you."
"... B-But..."
"That"s impossible for you."
He repeated those same words.
Then Mom stared intently at Dad, and,
"This has to be a curse—!? We"ve... been cursed! Like this, it won"t be just us! You"ll be killed as well. Your house will be ruined as well!"
She cried out.
He was surprised at that.
It was the first time he"d ever seen Mom cry out.
Even when she was scolding him, she never raised her voice.
But right now, she was utterly shaken.
Dad gazed at Mom.
Blond hair, deep blue eyes. He didn"t resemble him at all there.
But his listless, eternally sleepy face came completely from Dad...
There was no doubt that he was their child.
But, that was why...
Mom continued.
"I"ve dirtied your blood... It can"t be that my blood..."
"Don"t say that!"
Dad shouted.
But Mom continued.
"My blood carries the Alpha Stigma..."
"It"s not your fault!"
"Then—then whose fault is it!? You"re a n.o.ble. As is your family tree. Up until now, an Alpha Stigma bearer has never been born into the n.o.bility... It has to—it has to be my fault. Because a low-born like fell in love with a high-born like you, this has to be punishment..."
"Don"t say those kinds of things—! I have no regrets. I said so when we married. As long as I have you with me... No, now, as long as I have you and Ryner with me, I don"t need anything else. My house, my rank—I don"t care if I lose anything else."
Nevertheless, Mom stared at Dad, and gripping the knife with a trembling hand,
"I can"t let that happen to you. For a commoner woman like me..."
But Dad stared at Mom with a calm expression, and,
"How many times must I say it—that"s impossible for you. Now, give me that knife,"
He held out his hand.
Mom didn"t let go of the knife. She gripped it tightly.
Dad let out a sigh at that. While approaching Mom,
"... If it"s you, you"d certainly be willing to die for my sake. I"d die for you for as well. But you undoubtedly can"t kill Ryner."
Mom"s face again, at that, strained.
"B-But... he"ll be killed at any rate, won"t he? Surely they"ll discover that he"s an Alpha Stigma bearer... and one day he"ll go berserk... If—If that"s the case, then I"d rather..."
However, staring at the ever-kind Mom—
"That isn"t possible. For you... that isn"t possible. I know that for a fact. That isn"t the woman I love. That"s why I overcame all the opposition and married you. Now, give me the knife."
Saying that, Dad approached her.
Gently, Dad embraced Mom"s shoulder as she trembled, taking away the knife and tossing it away.
Spreading his arms apart, he turned this way.
He smiled as kindly as ever.
"You come here as well, Ryner."
At that, he nodded. He jumped into Dad"s arms.
It was scary.
He didn"t know what was going on at all, but either way, it was scary.
However, as if to take away all those fears, Dad held him and Mom.
Tightly, tightly, he held them.
However, while trembling nevertheless, Mom spoke with a sorrowful expression.
"But... But surely... the outcome won"t change... Like this, we"ll all be..."
But.
To that, Dad quietly—
"It"ll still be all right. I"ll protect you both. I"ll think of something. Ryner won"t be killed. You won"t be killed either. No matter what, I"ll protect you both. It"ll be all right.
Surely...
Surely... Surely...
There, the words stopped midway.
Again, his surroundings became dark.
"Eh?"
He let a quiet voice slip out.
Again, his entire body was swallowed up by unease.
It was scary.
"D-Dad!?"
He searched for Dad, who should have been holding him just now.
He searched for that warmth.
But he couldn"t find it.
He wasn"t there.
What was this...
Then, over there.
A voice echoed.
"The sacrifice..."
Hearing nothing else in this heavy darkness, it was a desperate voice...
To that, again, his mother"s voice.
"I... I will be the sacrifice..."
M-Mom, where are you!?
He called out. However, there was no answer.
"Contract."
Again, that voice.
Somehow stirring up unease, that voice.
"Destruction..."
It was scary... He didn"t want to hear that voice...
He covered his ears.
But the voice echoed.
No, it was more like it fell from above...
"Destruction... Destruction..."
Stop...
Stop it
Someone...
"Destruction... haha, hahaha, hahaha, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha—"
That voice laughed.
It laughed madly.
As if it were ridiculing everything in this world.
As if it were ridiculing him, alone in the darkness.
Scary.
It"s scary.
Someone save me.
Dad, Mom...
There, at that moment.
Before his eyes, his parents appeared.
In the center of the darkness.
The moment he looked at them.
He opened his eyes.
He opened his eyes wide.
In the center of his eyes was a red five-star pentacle.
A cursed, carved seal.
The ruler of mad destruction.
"D-Da... Mo... Ah... Uu..."
Red.
Everything was red.
Everything in the world was dyed red.
"I... don"t... like it... t-this... Ua... Ahhh... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhha, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha—"
It was a laugh that invoked fear.
A mad demon"s laugh.
He wanted to run away.
From that voice, from that fear, he wanted to run away.
Even though that voice was coming from him.
Curse.
He thought.
This is a curse.
A mad demon laid a curse on the world.
Despite being mad, a demon that wouldn"t die.
That was what he was.
What in the world did someone like him dream of?
"What manner of unfulfillable dreams has such a hideous monster seen?"
Who was it that said that?
"You should know this already. The blood-stained hands of a monster like you... They can"t grasp anything... No matter where you reach, they"ll never be able to attain anything."
Right.
It was Lucile.
Ferris"s brother, Lucile Eris, said that...
And, he looked at his hands.
The hands dyed with blood that Lucile had spoken of.
But whose blood was it?
Who—who the h.e.l.l have I...?
Within the darkness.
Steadily, a red spread across.
He turned towards the center of that red.
And...
"... Ah—!?"