Ochita Kuroi Yuusha no Densetsu

Some kind of fairy tale was written.

—Once you formed a contract with a Demon, you could never return to normal—and such.

That was why, with child-like judgment, if a demon appeared before him,

"Now then, form a contract with me. If you do, then I shall grant any wish you desire."

Even if such things were said, he felt that, without fail, he couldn"t succ.u.mb to the temptation.

Even with its sweet voice and though the conditions it presented were alluring, he felt that, without fail, he couldn"t lend an ear to any of the demon"s words.

After all, if he listened to the demon"s words.

If he succ.u.mbed to the demon"s temptation.

Because in the end, he knew that things would end in such a way that he had no support.

That was why, if a demon appeared before him, he would, without fail, refuse to listen to it—that was what Sion Astal had vowed, like a child.

"......"

He recalled that childish vow.

Recalling the vow of the old him, Sion smiled ruefully.

When his mother had read picture books to him and a scary demon appeared in those picture books—if a demon appeared before him, he would, without fail, refuse to listen to its words, he had vowed like a fool, at which Sion now, recalling that, smiled ruefully.

And suddenly.

"......"

Suddenly, he remembered the conversation that he"d had with his mother.

—Hey, Mom.

—Yes?

—If, somehow, a demon appears in our house, I"ll protect you, Mom!

—Really?

—Yeah! I"ll definitely protect you, Mom!

If he recalled correctly, he"d said that.

But in the end, his mother died so easily.

Even though no demon from a fairy tale appeared, his mother died so easily. More like the protagonists of a tragedy rather than of a fairy tale, it was a miserable, wretched death.

No, it wasn"t just his mother.

His allies, friends, and loved ones—everyone that he"d considered important to him died without any fanfare.

Sion hadn"t been able to protect a single person.

—I"ll protect everyone!

At those words,

"Ha—"

Sion let out a quiet laugh.

And he reminisced further.

Before him, his allies" heads had gone flying.

Before him, his friends had cried out.

Before him, everything had been dirtied with a deep red.

And he"d finally realized.

Monsters from fairy tales meant to deceive children didn"t exist in reality.

No, on the contrary, as they became adults, it was something everyone realized.

In this rotten country.

In this rotten world, demons and whatnot wrapped in an unsightly darkness deeper than humans didn"t exist.

That was why when, in reality, a Demon appeared.

"......"

When a demon like the ones out of fairy tales appeared before him.

Sion listened to that demon"s words.

He broke his vow as a child.

That he would, without fail, refuse to listen to the words of a demon, and such—Sion went against that decision and listened to the demon"s words.

"......"

That demon spoke.

"Starting from now, I"ll ask several questions. I"ll ask several questions in order to deem whether you are suitable or not."

No, rather than a demon, he was an existence of ill will. Stagnant with black deeper than darkness. Radiating with white greater than light. As if his existence were occupying a s.p.a.ce with nothingness, it was unstable and strange, and with that, he was an incredibly, incredibly beautiful man.

That man spoke.

"For you to receive these questions, there is one condition."

"... Condition?"

Sion asked, to which the demon said,

"Yes. I shall ask you the questions. And if I am not pleased with your answer, I"ll kill you. Relax. It won"t hurt. You won"t even feel your head separating from your body. Rather—rather, you"ll simply die."

He said that.

And that, unlike what a demon in a fairy tale would say, was a deal with an unbelievably harsh condition. At any rate, merely to receive his questions, the other party would have to wager his life.

He didn"t talk about how, to grant your wish, he"d offer a deal. What he spoke of was instead of how he"d judge you. If he wasn"t pleased, he"d kill you. Just about that kind of thing.

Without a doubt, if this had been Sion when he was a child, he would"ve rejected that proposal.

If it were Sion who"d feared demons back then, he would"ve rejected the unreasonable proposal immediately.

But no longer,

"......"

No longer was he a child.

He was no longer an innocent, cheerful child who read fairy tales.

His mother died.

And in the war, he lost all of his allies.

Nevertheless, this cursed world continued to kill people, day after day. It killed his allies. It killed his friends. It killed his family. Even if they cried out, no one was saved. Kiefer cried, Ryner lost hope, and Fahl, Tyle, and Toni died.

In spite of that, as always, the cries don"t stop.

In spite of that, as always, the cries won"t stop!

Then.

Then, what in the world should be done?

What can I do to stop those cries?

What can I do stop the people"s tears?

What can a powerless, foolish piece of trash who couldn"t protect a single person do to protect what"s important?

What can I do to get a hold of enough power to protect everyone?

"......"

Day in, day out, Sion had continued to ask himself that. Foolishly, he continued to ask himself that each day.

And, he thought about it.

If, by any chance, a demon from a fairy tale now appeared before him.

And if that demon said that it"d grant any wish of his.

Even if, for compensation, it"d demand anything, surely—he would accept.

"......"

That was why he spoke.

Sion spoke.

He stared at the demon before him.

"Very well. Let"s hear your questions... Lucile Eris."

Then the demon—

Lucile Eris smiled.

"Haha. I thought you might say that."

And Lucile turned on his heel.

"Please come with me,"

He said.

The man who"d reached an unknown depth in the underworld, deeper than demons from books, who was wrapped in a deep darkness, said that.

Incidentally, right now, the place that Sion was in was the residence of the Eris house, the renowned family that had been called the sword clan for generations and guarded the royal family.

And within that residence was a dojo. Like the sort of s.p.a.ce that n.o.ble children would gather, with a wide, open wooden floor, it was a dojo with nothing remarkable about it that Sion had been invited to.

The reason he"d been invited here was because he"d been told something like, "I"d like to meet with and reward Sion-kun, who returned safely from the war."

Due to Kiefer"s betrayal, he"d lost all of his allies; however, because of Ryner going berserk, all of the Estabul Magic Knights had been slaughtered, and so Sion had survived.

And Rahel Miller had appeared.

The man who"d always been kissing the shoes of the n.o.bles, acting obsequious, and falling prostrate to the ground appeared with his true figure.

That Miller said that he was starting a revolution.

He was starting a revolution that, all this time, he"d been planning from the shadows.

For that reason, he was going to make use of Sion.

By creating a legend of the hero Sion Astal, who, on his own, wiped out the Estabul Magic Knights and furthermore caused the Kingdom of Estabul to surrender, they would elevate Sion and so start a revolution within Roland.

In other words, Sion had been allowed to live so that he could be Miller"s puppet.

He"d been allowed to live so that he could be a doll, manipulated by Miller who was pulling the strings.

And in one fell swoop, the tale began to move forward.

Miller was extinguishing any hindrances, one by one.

One by one, he was a.s.sa.s.sinating anyone who got in his way, from n.o.bles to people in positions of authority. On the other hand, he wasn"t negligent about controlling the flow of information either. Currently, it seemed that the upper bra.s.s of the military and the n.o.bles were unaware of the true enemy that was going around, picking them off.

No, it was possible they weren"t even aware that an enemy had appeared on the stage to begin with.

Even if they noticed the threat of Sion Astal, the low-born commoner who was being elevated the saviour and hero of the country, they were unaware of the existence of Rahel Miller, the one manipulating him.

And while the royal family and n.o.bles were unaware, Miller"s plot moved forward. Miller"s deception moved forward. Miller"s strategy moved forward.

Everything was moving forward according to his plan.

He was doing what should be done. He killed those whom he needed to kill. He raised the reputation of Sion Astal, the beloved hero of the people who put an end to the war.

And to the very end, the ma.s.ses were spreading rumours that Sion Astal, who"d become the light of the people, was the one slaughtering the royal family. Already, he"d become Miller"s prepared tool, as part of a just cause—

"......"

That was likely part of Miller"s plan.

And Sion wasn"t that displeased over such a plan. If, with this, the country could truly change. If this rotten country could change even a little, then he didn"t care about what was done with the life of the powerless him who couldn"t save anyone—that was how he felt, after all.

But.

"......"

But surely, with this, nothing will change, Sion thought.

The perfect world created by the efficient Miller wouldn"t work for most people, Sion thought.

No, more than anything, he thought that Miller"s revolution wouldn"t succeed.

The main reason for that was,

"... This."

Muttering that softly, Sion looked at the back of the beautiful man leading them further into the dojo.

He looked at Lucile Eris, the head of the Eris clan who"d been tasked with protecting this country"s king for generations.

Glossy golden hair, and an unbelievably abnormal well-arranged appearance. But that wasn"t the issue at hand here.

This presence.

This substance.

From the first time Sion had met Lucile up until now, Lucile hadn"t felt like a human.

Inside of Lucile, there was killing intent so strong that it extinguished everything, and an existence that felt as if it would blow out and disappear, trembling faintly.

After exchanging only a few words with him, some sort of anxiety and tension formed inside of Sion, for some reason.

After he moved only a little, anxiety and tension formed in the world.

Of course, the monsters in the dark side of the previous Roland also had that overpowering feeling.

For example, if it were that Claugh Klom or Rahel Miller, most people would be frozen by their overpowering presences and become unable to move, likely.

Even Ryner had developed such an aura. No, the figure of his Alpha Stigma going berserk and him casting a storm of slaughter, rather, felt like facing a G.o.d.

But even compared to that.

"......"

Even the rampage of the Alpha Stigma and Claugh Klom who was called a demon of war couldn"t compare to Lucile"s intimidating presence, Sion thought.

No, there was nothing that could compare, was what Sion thought.

The air that Lucile Eris was clad in was something that was too distinct.

Something so distinct that,

"......"

There was clearly something that felt distinct from a human inside of him.

Rather than a human, it was something even worse than a demon or a monster—that was what Sion felt.

And that was—

That was the main reason why Sion couldn"t approve of Miller"s plan.

This thing that wasn"t a person was protecting the king of the Roland Empire.

This thing that surpa.s.sed common sense was protecting Roland"s king.

And for whatever reason, Sion felt it.

That this monster surely wasn"t something that Miller was accounting for.

However much of a genius that man called Rahel Miller was, no matter how perfectly and efficiently he could act, his perfect plan that fell within the boundaries of common sense wasn"t accounting for Lucile Eris, he felt.

If by any chance Miller"s plan succeeded, if the people"s revolution succeeded, and Miller and Claugh stormed the royal castle, the revolution wouldn"t get past Lucile Eris.

No, from the beginning, in this country, people had never behaved in such a normal, sensible manner, had they?

For whatever reason, that was how Sion felt. If it was because of the blood of the mad king flowing inside of him, or for some other reason, he didn"t know, but whenever he looked at Lucile, he felt that, as plain as day.

Looking at this man, he felt that, as plain as day.

No matter what was done to this man, without a doubt, Miller"s power, Claugh"s power, and the people"s cries wouldn"t reach this country"s king.

"......"

To that extent.

To that extent, Sion felt that this man called Lucile Eris possessed something that distinctly wasn"t of a human.

Instead, he held an air that felt like nothing but the notion that Sion, who couldn"t help but be a human, shouldn"t get involved with him.

Don"t talk with a demon.

Don"t get involved with a monster.

Don"t touch this thing that isn"t a human.

Everyone knew that.

Deep in their hearts, everyone instinctively knew that.

That was why his heart cried out. The moment that a monster appeared before him. The moment that a demon appeared before him, his heart cried out.

Run away. Run away. Run away. Run away.

But that—

"......"

Repressing that fear, Sion chose to move on ahead.

Following the back of this thing that wasn"t a human, he chose to move on ahead.

Then, the girl next to him spoke. Still only around fourteen or fifteen years old, a girl who resembled Lucile.

Ferris Eris—

Lucile Eris"s younger sister.

Long golden hair, and an expressionless face, but as expected, she was an inhumanly beautiful girl.

However, she was a human. Though she swung a sword that most people wouldn"t think of wielding, she was nevertheless different from Lucile, as a genuine human.

He didn"t know why there was such a discrepancy between the siblings, but Ferris, who was still rooted in the human world, spoke.

To Sion, who was following Lucile, she spoke.

"What a waste. You would throw away your hard-earned battlefield survival here?"

Sion turned his head at that. He looked at Ferris"s unsurprisingly emotionless face.

And he made a move to speak,

"......"

But he stopped.

He ignored her words.

Because he"d already decided that he wouldn"t be misled.

Because he"d already decided in that war the path that he would walk down.

Again, he"d lost everything. He"d lost all of his comrades. He"d lost everything that was important to him. There was no longer anything left that the him from then could do.

There was no longer anything that the worthless him could do.

That was why he was moving forward.

Even though he didn"t know what might come out of making a contract with a demon, he was moving forward.

"Don"t go, you fool,"

Ferris said.

However, Sion didn"t halt.

"Don"t go with Brother... with him,"

Ferris said.

However, Sion didn"t halt.

Then, Lucile spoke.

He turned his head.

He turned his lovely face.

And he laughed.

"... Haha, Ferris is kind, isn"t she? But it"s pointless. He has already decided. He"s already decided to go somewhere far away."

"Sion isn"t like you. He"s not looking for your level of abnormal power."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"But even if he isn"t seeking power, Ferris, you can hear what he"s crying out for, can"t you? He can no longer bear with his weakness. He can no longer bear with crawling on the ground like a worm. Can you hear his cries, of how he can no longer endure the cruelty of living like this in this world?"

In response to the question, Ferris spoke.

"... I don"t really hear anything like tha..."

She began, but was interrupted.

"If you can"t hear anything, then be quiet. This is an affair that has nothing to do with you."

"But—"

"I said to be quiet. And disappear for the time being."

Lucile said. Lightly, he swung his hand.

In that instant, his words became reality.

Ferris vanished.

Though Sion wasn"t sure what just happened, Ferris truly wasn"t there anymore.

Regarding that, Sion stared, and,

"... Haha. What"s with that? You don"t want your precious little sister getting involved?"

He said that.

In response, Lucile looked his way.

And,

"... Correct. She"s pure, after all. It"s fine if we alone are stained by the darkness... Do you not agree?"

At those words,

"......"

Sion simply smiled a tad.

For the first time, he felt that he saw a human side to this monster, and so he smiled.

"Haha... Roland"s greatest monster is a foolish older brother, huh?"

Lucile also smiled.

"Because she"s special."

"And why is that?"

"......"

However, there was no answer to that question.

Lucile continued further into the dojo. Opening countless wooden doors, he moved deeper, deeper into the dojo. There was no noise. Not of Lucile"s footsteps, or of Sion"s. No, it felt as if though there was a spell that was depriving the area of all sound, dominating the dojo with an eerie silence.

Opening a door, they moved deeper inside.

Opening a door, they moved deeper inside.

As they advanced further, it felt as if they were being dyed by the deep the darkness that surrounded them. He felt something deeply uncomfortable.

Here.

This place.

He felt that it was a place where he, who hadn"t surpa.s.sed being an ordinary human, should exist in. He felt the darkness that surrounded them and the silence—the nothingness try and crush him.

Then,

"Is it getting difficult?"

Lucile asked.

At that, Sion looked at his face and shook his head.

"No."

Lucile smiled.

"Heh. You truly are superior, aren"t you? Even though we"re at a point that Ferris and Iris—no, that normal humans couldn"t enter... Just as I thought, Asruld"s blood is strong in you."

He said something so cryptic.

And again, he opened a door.

He continued into a room with a wooden floor.

But that wooden floor no longer looked like a normal one.

The landscape was distorting.

Feeling just like the moment before collapsing from anemia, the world flickered, as the landscape began to airily distort. Entering that distorting world, Lucile spoke.

"Now, in this place, I will soon ask the first question,"

He said.

But it felt as though that voice were echoing in a faraway place.

As the landscape twisted and turned, the darkness warped, and time distorted, Sion felt that.

Amidst that unstable scenery, Lucile gently held out a hand to him.

"Can you see my fingers?"

He asked such a question.

In response, Sion stared, and then looked at the fingers that Lucile was holding up. Naturally, he could see Lucile"s fingers. The index finger, the middle finger, and the ring finger were the three fingers he was pointing in Sion"s direction.

Lucile spoke.

"Right now, how many fingers am I pointing at you? That is the first question."

The answer was three fingers.

Or rather, in reality, he didn"t think of any response beyond those three fingers before him, but,

"......"

Sion didn"t answer right away.

No, he shouldn"t answer right away.

This was a question where he had staked his life. Lucile had said that if he wasn"t pleased by Sion"s answer, he would immediately kill him.

He shouldn"t answer so easily.

That was why Sion stared at Lucile, who was cheerfully gazing at him, and,

"... Do you have some kind of aim with that question? Do you really just want me to answer how many fingers you"re holding up, or is there something else hidden in the question, in which case there"s something else in my answer that I need to have?"

He began, but at that, Lucile laughed.

"No, you can simply tell me how many fingers I"m holding up. But I no longer need to ask. Right now, you can see how many fingers. Because you can see that much, this question isn"t necessary. In that case, we may move on. We"ll move onto a place where we can see what it is you can do right now."

Saying that, he again moved on.

Looking at his back,

"Just what in the world are you trying to do?"

Sion asked.

But Lucile disregarded that and continued forward.

He opened another door.

He opened another door.

He opened another door.

He opened another door.

With each door they pa.s.sed through, Sion"s head hurt. His ears rang. He felt like vomitting. No, even though they should"ve been in the dojo up until earlier, he couldn"t even tell what kind of place this was anymore.

As the air trembled, the sensation that he was walking in a dark sea of the night tormented his entire body.

Just what—

Just what was this place?

Right, Sion was about to mutter, when suddenly, Lucile turned around. And again, he did the same thing. He held out his hand.

"Now then, I"ll ask you again. Can you see my fingers?"

It was in that moment.

It was in that moment that finally, Sion understood.

What Lucile was doing right now, what he was trying to do, Sion understood.

Right now, before his eyes, the number of fingers that Lucile was holding up was wavering, and so he was having more difficulty than before seeing them.

In other words, as the world distorted, as light distorted, as time distorted, the number of fingers Lucile held—no, even Lucile"s figure was becoming harder to see.

If he lost consciousness.

If he lost consciousness even if only slightly, he wouldn"t be able to answer even this simple of a question.

"... I see. So it"s that kind of test?"

"Exactly. It"s that kind of test. Then, how many fingers do you see?"

"Two fingers."

Lucile smiled at that, and,

"Correct—incidentally, everyone of your brothers failed at the previous room. As I expected, you truly are superior,"

He said.

At that, Sion stared at Lucile.

"My brothers? You mean from the royal family? They also came here?"

"Yes. It seems that you, as an illegitimate, lowborn son, wasn"t taught... those who possess the blood of this country"s founder, Asruld Roland, are put through a test when they turn fifteen. A test in order to become king. Only those who can preserve their sanity while going through as many doors as possible, deeper, deeper into the underground of this stained land possess the right to become the next king—even if it"s the commoner son of a woman seen as a lowborn dog, hmm?"

Lucile said.

The commoner son of a woman seen as a lowborn dog.

Sion had been called that by the n.o.bles and his brothers. Mocked each day, continuously oppressed, he"d been constantly called a lowborn dog. When his mother had died, it seemed that they"d deliberately sent him the corpse of a dog.

But,

"... Then. Then, I possess the right to become king as well? I have the qualifications to erode this country"s structure?"

"Correct... but that"s enough with the meaningless questions. Let"s continue."

Saying that, Lucile turned forward. And he began to move ahead.

Opening a door, he moved on.

Opening a door, he moved on.

Opening a door, he moved on.

In response, Sion followed him. And right now, to Lucile, there were so many questions that he wanted to ask about what they"d just discussed. There were so many things that he wanted to know. There were so many things that he hadn"t heard.

But,

"......"

He didn"t ask any of them.

No, to be accurate, Sion was no longer capable of asking anything.

With each further step, the scenery of the world changed.

With each further step, the stream of time changed.

The sensation of madness pervaded so heavily that his head hurt. As if his body were about to erupt, it felt like he would disappear. He couldn"t think at all. As he was at his limit just trying to remain sane, he couldn"t think at all.

He felt as if he were going to die.

He would disappear like this, and become nothing...

Then,

"... Now then, this is the place where the man who currently sits at the throne of this country—in other words, your father—lost his sanity. He held on quite well, but he never regained it, it seems. Before coming here, it seems that your father also claimed that he was going to make the world a better place, but that was nothing but a lonely joke. Nothing can be done about it... No, you can"t listen to me well anymore, can you? Then, I"ll get straight to the question. Can you see? Can you see this? How many fingers I"m holding up?"

He heard that voice from somewhere.

And something was being presented before his eyes. But whatever it was, he couldn"t see it clearly.

But he had to, he thought. If he couldn"t, then everything would be for naught, he thought. If he couldn"t, then the one who killed his mother... his father who"d plunged the country into despair, the current king—he wouldn"t be able to surpa.s.s him.

That was why he had to...

Sion, at that,

"......"

He grimaced. Enduring the nausea, he narrowed his eyes. He glared at something floating in the center of the darkness, and frantically tried to confirm that shape. Opening his eyes as much as he could open them, feeling as if his eyes were about to rupture, it hurt. Feeling as if his head were about to break, it hurt.

Nevertheless, he opened his eyes wide, and,

"... O-One finger,"

Sion said.

Then from inside the darkness, a voice rang out again.

"Is that truly what you see?"

Sion nodded.

"Yes."

"In that case, shall we proceed further?"

"Yes."

"You will go mad..."

"Be quiet. Hurry... Let"s hurry up and go."

"Fufufu. I see. Then with just two steps... with just two steps, move forward."

At that, Sion did as he said. With just those two steps forward, the landscape of the world suddenly changed again. The pressure that attacked his body swelled up. He felt such pressure that it was as if he were going to vomit out his organs and turn his body inside-out. It was the sensation that he was already wandering amidst death.

Regardless, Sion said that he would endure all of it.

He spoke to the nothingness, the figure that he couldn"t see well from inside the darkness.

"... Well?"

Nothingness replied,

"With this, you have advanced further than anyone else. You have obtained the right to become king. You alone have obtained the right to kill the king."

"Is that so?"

"But that sort of thing has no meaning to me. The power struggle between worthless children has no meaning. Thus, I will now ask the true questions."

"... Is... that so?"

"If I am not pleased with your answers, I will kill you."

"All right."

"I will kill you, who"s gained the right to become king,"

The nothingness said.

But to those words,

"... T-That"s enough with that spiel. Hurry up and... move on."

As Sion said that, the nothingness seemed to smile. Cheerfully, it seemed to smile.

"In this place, amidst that agony, you can still speak? Within this despair, you can still maintain consciousness? Ha, haha, this is quite something. In that case, there"s a chance that my wish might be granted. There"s a chance that this curse might be undone."

From within the darkness, the voice asked that.

But he could no longer respond to that voice.

Because if he let go of even a bit of his consciousness, he would go mad.

Because if he let go of even a bit of his consciousness, he would die.

And to the side of that death, nothingness spoke.

"Now, for the question."

"......"

"I will ask you a question."

"......"

"You will answer it."

"......"

"There is one thing that I wish to ask. Even if the agony that you"re presently suffering should, from now on, continue for eternity, nevertheless, you desire nothing but the power to save someone—to change the world?"

The nothingness said that.

The darkness said that.

It took a while for him to understand those words. Already, his consciousness was becoming vague, as insanity crept in. Already, his consciousness was becoming dim, as death crept in.

In spite of that, he thought over it. Summoning the willpower to maintain a hold over his consciousness, he thought over it.

He thought over the meaning of the nothingness"s words.

This was what the nothingness was saying.

—Even if this suffering and despair continue for eternity, do you still desire power?

Understanding the meaning of those words, Sion thought.

"......"

He thought about whether he could stand it.

It was clearly a question about whether or not he could stand it.

This agony continuing for eternity?

This agony that was driving him to madness continuing for eternity?

Impossible. Where would you find someone who"d be willing to go that far to obtain power? Where would you find someone who"d be willing to go that far to protect someone?

If such a person did exist, then they"d already be insane by now. They"d drown in sorrowful thoughts and go mad over their inability to protect those they loved, he thought.

That was why Sion answered.

He stared into the nothingness, and to that foolish question, he answered this.

"Yes,"

He said.

"Yes, I still want power, nevertheless,"

He said.

"I want the power to create a world where the people before me... my allies, my friends, my family, everyone can smile foolishly without having to cry. I"ll sacrifice anything for that goal. And so—and so, give me that power."

That was his answer.

While wishing he could cry out from the intense pain, breathing faintly, he said that.

Then the nothingness spoke.

From within the darkness, it spoke.

"In return for that suffering, any happiness you obtain in the future will not last."

"I know."

"In return for that despair, you yourself will not obtain a single thing."

"I know."

"Instead, you will only suffer. You will not be rewarded. You will not find happiness. Nevertheless—nevertheless, do you desire power?"

"Yes,"

Sion answered.

And at that response,

"You"re insane, aren"t you?"

The nothingness said; however, Sion laughed at that. As a mirthless smile arose,

"Not as much as you."

"Haha."

"Hahahahaha."

Sion laughed. The nothingness laughed as well. They laughed as if they were about to cry. The laughing voices of the two were, unsurprisingly, were heard far away, as they warped and were distorted.

The nothingness spoke.

"In that case, shall we go? Pa.s.s under the seventh door—the seal. That will be the last one. Up until now, no one has ever reached its depths. It is the resting place of Asruld Roland"s corpse. Of course, if you go any further, there"s a chance that you might go mad and die. No, your existence itself may scatter and vanish entirely. But if you survive... if you succeed in this gamble, our—the mad tale of the two of us will begin."

At that, Sion replied,

"... Haha, sounds... exciting, huh...?"

"Doesn"t it?"

"B-But... I can"t move... anymore..."

The nothingness spoke.

"That"s fine. I will lend you a hand."

Then, he felt something grab his hair. And it pulled him along.

Inside.

It pulled him along deeper inside that darkness.

There was the sound of a door opening.

After that, forward, towards the inside, deeper towards the inside of despair, deeper he felt himself sink.

Though he felt like screaming, he didn"t even have the ability to do that much. Though amidst the agony, the pain, the suffering, the despair, he felt like screaming, he couldn"t even manage that much.

His body couldn"t say anything at all. Even if he tried to cry out, he had no voice. Something inside of him was changing. Something flowing inside of him was changing.

Something unpleasant. He sensed something deeply unpleasant changing.

But by this point, even that no longer mattered.

Death.

Madness.

Everything was changing.

That was the gist of what he thought.

"......"

Suddenly, a landscape opened up.

As the agony vanished from his body, Sion opened his eyes.

He was in a small prison-like place. A narrow grey room, with chains hanging from the ceiling and a "thing" that he couldn"t quite understand attached to those chains. Its entire body clothed in a jet black robe, it seemed to be a humanoid figure emitting a pale light. Part of that human-like figure"s face was covered by a half-smiling, half-crying mask. And as if dividing the two halves of the mask, a crimson sword was pierced through its surface. As the tip of the blade seemed to also be pierced through the wall behind, it was like that thing had been firmly tied down to this place.

Sion looked down on it.

He looked down on that thing.

And if, somehow, it was a person.

"......"

Sion thought about it.

If, somehow, this was a person, they were clearly dead. There was no living thing that could survive having their face pierced through with a sword.

Furthermore, he couldn"t sense any signs of life from their body. Rather, that was all that was there. Rather, the only thing that was there was the ties. It was nothingness. Nothingness was there. No, the constant feelings of discomfort and hollowness that had been present ever since he entered the Eris clan"s dojo—all of it was being released by this thing, he knew.

Then,

"Now, pull out the sword,"

From the corpse, a voice rang out.

From the lifeless body that had been stabbed through with the sword, a voice rang out.

In spite of that, Sion didn"t think about how the corpse was speaking. After all, that voice—

"......"

After all, the voice had come from the sword pierced through the thing"s face.

That voice spoke.

The voice that was exactly like Lucile Eris"s spoke.

"Pull out the sword, and the power that you desire—release Asruld Roland"s body and devour."

At those words, Sion stared at the sword.

The crimson sword.

He looked down at the sinister crimson blade, and,

"Huh. This is... this sword is your true form, isn"t it? Lucile."

The sword replied,

"It"s merely half of it. I had the Ω devour half of my body. In despair from being separated from the α, it was devoured by the curse of the starved G.o.ddesses. Well, now, I am already currently eroding the consciousness of that sword, but..."

Lucile said that sort of thing. And as for what he was talking about, Sion barely understood any of it. It seemed that the sword was a different living being than Lucile, Lucile had let this sword devour half of his body, and furthermore, he was in the process of taking over, or something like that.

Why he was doing such a thing was something else that Sion didn"t understand. Why, alone in this place of deep darkness, he was doing such a thing was something else that Sion didn"t understand.

But what he did understand was that this was a place of madness. Evidently somewhere that humans shouldn"t get close to, that it was a place of madness was something he immediately understood.

He understood Lucile"s reasons for not wanting Ferris or Iris to have any involvement with this location.

Because of this place alone.

Because just from standing here, he could feel himself becoming unsightly, stained, impure. Because he was aware of everything falling to ruin.

Like this, just by vaguely standing here, he could feel everything becoming corrupt, and so quickly, Sion asked,

"... Well? Just what did you bring me here for?"

The sword replied,

"Like I said, pull out the sword."

At those words, Sion directed his attention towards the thing that had been pierced by the sword, and,

"What kind of corpse is this?"

"A G.o.d"s."

"Ah?"

"The ruin of what once was the sad hero called the Fallen Dark Hero. But at the moment, such a thing is meaningless. Obtain what it is that you need. That is nothing but changing this mad country. The power for nothing but changing this mad world is what you desire, is it not?"

The sword said that.

At that,

"......"

Sion nodded.

Right now, before the hideous, clearly mad landscape expanding before him, Sion—

"... So what you"re saying is that to change this mad world, I need to obtain equally mad power?"

He said with a self-deprecating half-smile.

The sword laughed.

"Correct. That is so. Are you afraid?"

"Well, it is frightening."

That landscape being displayed. With that sort of taste of agony, if he said that he weren"t afraid, that would be a lie.

"Do you wish to run away?"

"Yeah."

Sion easily nodded at that. The sword laughed again. It laughed loudly.

"You"re quite honest, aren"t you?"

"I"m pure of heart, after all."

"Hahaha, how amusing."

"It"s true?"

"Haha, ha. Then—then shall we stop here? Shall we stop before your purity is defiled?"

The sword said.

Still, it spoke in a tone as if he could turn back now. It spoke in a tone as if at any time, he could immediately return to an earlier place.

But Sion laughed scornfully at that. If he could turn back, then there was no such place from the start. Unless it were the battlefield in which he lost his allies, there was no such place from the start. Even if he didn"t venture further in this kind of place, if he"d possessed the power simply to protect everyone from the start, he wouldn"t have come here to make such a foolish contract with a demon.

That was why he spoke.

While holding his hand out towards the sword, Sion said,

"Stop? Perish the thought."

The sword spoke.

"If you withdraw, you will—"

The sword.

Lucile.

The demon spoke.

"If you withdraw, you will end up in h.e.l.l for eternity."

At that, Sion—

He replied,

"Something like that... Even a child would know that."

And without hesitation, he withdrew the sword.

He withdrew the sword that tied down the world"s despair.

He then felt what had been stopped begin to move.

He felt the time that had been distorted begin to move.

He felt his hand, his body, everything deviate from the worthless scenario that someone had created.

The sword disappeared.

The sword disappeared towards the inside of his body. And a few of the sword"s memories flowed through him. A few of Lucile Eris"s memories flowed through him. Unsurprisingly, they were sorrowful memories as well. It was a story of how he cried out that he wanted to protect what was important to him, but lamented his lack of power.

Rather than the story of a malicious demon, it was of a single young boy who grieved, and grieved, and grieved. Alone in the depths of h.e.l.l, it was a story of the path he chose to walk down on.

However, at that, Sion said,

"... I don"t feel sorry for you."

As he said that, Lucile replied,

"Of course. After all, you as well... you"re the same as me."

And he revealed himself.

From inside Sion"s body, he revealed himself. Entirely as if he were protecting Sion, Lucile revealed himself, and murmured in Sion"s ear.

"Now, with this, you are my king. I am your sword and your shield, and the one who supports Fallen Dark Hero of loneliness, the Lonesome Demon [Ryner Eris Reed]. Now... Now, accept your despair."

As he said that, the masked figure, which should have been fastened to the chains, disappeared as well. The chains and prison—the items that restrained him were released.

Then.

Then, within his own body, there was again the sensation of something being overturned. He was aware of the feeling like the blood within him was boiling.

And that thing was coming back.

The pain in his head, the nausea, and the despair that felt as if it would burn his body that he"d felt each time he"d pa.s.sed under a door, following Lucile.

Lucile asked,

"Does it hurt?"

"Yeah."

"To the extent that you can"t endure it?"

"Yeah... it... it feels like I"m going to vomit out my organs."

Sion pressed down on his chest and said that, to which Lucile laughed.

"That sounds quite painful. But get used to it. After all, this will continue for eternity."

"That"s harsh."

"Haha, that"s why I said that you would regret it. But it"s already too late to turn back. The Fallen Dark Hero [Asruld Roland] has been freed from his prison, and has begun to encroach on you and your blood relatives. But if you win, you will obtain power."

"... And if I lose?"

Again, Lucile smiled.

"If you lose, you will no longer be a human."

While smiling, he left Sion"s side, and touched the chains that hung from the ceiling. And he touched the traces of where the Hero had once been tied up until now.

"It"s simple, no longer being human. All you need to do is abandon your reasoning. All you need do is stop fighting it. Once you do that, you"ll find great pleasure. And you"ll come to devour humans. Your family, friends, allies, brethren, important people—you"ll come to devour all of them. You"ll transform into one of the G.o.ds who have abandoned their reasoning, known as the G.o.ddesses, and devour everything in the world. But if you win... if you win, you will obtain the power to kill the G.o.ddesses,"

Lucile said.

G.o.ddesses.[1]

G.o.ddesses.

G.o.ddesses.

That was, unsurprisingly, a word that one would hear of only in fairy tales. And in those fairy tales, G.o.ddesses should be, literally, beautiful women who were female G.o.ds.

But judging from the way Lucile spoke of the G.o.ddesses, it seemed that they were ill-omened, grotesque beings.

While enduring the pain by attempting to flatten his chest, Sion asked,

"... Are those "G.o.ddesses", or whatever they are, your enemies?"

Lucile shook his head.

"No, that"s not quite it."

"Then, what are they?"

"My enemy is..."

Then, Lucile stopped, before,

"... My enemy is the same as all those that you wish to defeat,"

He said.

And he vanished. As if he"d never been there to begin with, Lucile Eris vanished.

But Sion paid no heed to that.

No, as expected, he couldn"t afford to put in the effort to pay any heed to that. His entire body hurt. Pain flared throughout his entire body to the point where it felt like he was going to go insane.

Amidst that pain.

Amidst that agony.

At the moment, Sion reflected over Lucile"s words.

"My enemy is the same as all those that you wish to defeat."

He thought over that, and,

"Those that I wish to defeat,"

Sion muttered.

And the answer to that began to form inside his heart.

What he wished to defeat.

The weak him. The weak him who couldn"t protect anybody.

And the fate that was toying with people"s lives.

Who had created it, he didn"t know, but it was a world that thought of nothing but making people cry out in despair.

He wanted to change that.

He wanted to change everything.

Though he didn"t know anything of G.o.ds, heroes, or G.o.ddesses, he wanted to kill those who had created this rotten world and defeat all that was cursed!

"......"

It was the instant that he thought that.

He felt the pain that ran through his body calm down slightly. He felt the power of the thing that encroached his body weak slightly.

Moreover,

"... Ah,"

A sigh resounded by his ear.

"Ah... as I thought, I was right to choose you. I was right to advise your father not to kill you. You"re different from the others. You, who should"ve been called a lowborn dog"s son, are different from the others. From your mad father, from your arrogant brothers... come, you feel it as well, do you not? Already, piece by piece, your humanity is slipping away. Even though you"re enduring it, they so easily fell to the Hero"s allure, and began to lose their humanity. Now, kill them. A revolution is beginning in this country, correct? In that case, kill them."

At that, Sion turned around. He tried to sense the presences of the ones that Lucile spoke of: his brothers who"d stopped being human.

Already, within this country, he sensed inhuman beings squirming about. He sensed ominous monsters squirming about.

But even if he sensed that, he thought.

Even if he sensed that countless people weren"t human, but malicious existences, Sion thought.

Even if my brothers have become something inhuman, it"s not like this country changed, Sion thought.

The mad king, or the arrogant n.o.bles.

At any rate, from before, there was nothing but unsightly monsters who became inflated in their gluttony that dwelled in this country. Monsters that had no regard for human life. Killing others solely for their own pleasures, monsters who thought of nothing.

By this point, even after turning into the monsters of legends, was there honestly anything that had changed?

"......"

As Sion thought about that, he smiled cynically. Then he directed his attention towards Lucile, before asking,

"Hey, Lucile."

"Yes?"

"With this, are my brothers who"ve lost their humanity strong?"

Lucile replied,

"At the very least, they"re existences that humans don"t come into contact with."

"Haa? So they became even worse in character?"

"Hahaha,"

Lucile laughed.

It"s not really a laughing matter, Sion thought, but shrugged, as he again directed his attention towards sensing his brothers who had become inhuman.

He turned his sharp, golden-coloured eyes.

And—

"Kill my brothers. Kill the king. Is that goal fine with you?"

"Perhaps,"

Lucile said, but ignoring him, Sion continued.

"I don"t think anything will change at all."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Even if we kill the king, even if we kill the royal family, the n.o.bles still hold as much power as they please. The n.o.bles who have become inflated in their greed still exist. As long as that"s the case, then this country will never change, will it?"

"Hmm. Then, shall we kill all of those n.o.bles?"

Lucile began, but at that, Sion shook his head.

"If we kill them, more will appear."

"Then we can kill them as well."

"And then another one will appear."

Then, Lucile looked at him with an exasperated expression, and,

"I don"t think I want to play this pointless word game with you?"

Sion laughed at that. After laughing, he continued.

"With the way things are currently set up, nothing will change. The way power is currently distributed, nothing will change. The people"s hearts will always suppress any attempt at change. The people"s hearts will always accept the way things work in this rotten country. To change that, we need a light of hope. Even if it"s only a rumour, they simply need to believe that salvation exists, for there to be a light of hope."

"... In other words, that"s what you wish to become?"

However, at those words, a smile arose in Sion"s face.

"Already done. Thanks to being a puppet in Miller"s scheme, I"m currently the hero of Roland. But I don"t think that, the way things are, this country would change under Miller"s command. Though he surely believes that if he kills the royal family and kills the n.o.bles, then his revolution will succeed, I don"t think so."

"Because the people"s hearts won"t change?"

"That"s right."

"You"re rather kind, aren"t you? I have no interest in things like other people"s hearts, on the other hand."

In response to Lucile"s words, Sion said,

"Yeah. That"s how you are. But that"s your strength, in the end. And that"s Miller"s strength. Because you guys are strong, you no longer see the weakness of others. You don"t see the weakness in me."

"You"re strong enough,"

Lucile said, but at that,

"Ha—"

Sion laughed scornfully.

And if I were truly strong...

He thought.

He recalled the faces of his allies who"d died because of his weakness. He recalled his mother"s face. He recalled the crying Kiefer.

And he recalled the face of Ryner, who"d placed himself in prison to save Kiefer. He recalled the face of that guy who understood his own weakness well. A monster that killed others, a murderer for whom there was no worth in being alive—someone like that couldn"t possibly accomplish anything, right? What could that worthless, trash-like self possibly accomplish? And such.

He recalled the face of that idiot who could think only of such things.

That—

While recalling that face of his close friend, he spoke.

"I"m weak. No, everyone is weak. That"s why, without ignoring that weakness, I intend to move forward. Do you think that"s naive?"

Lucile shrugged at that.

"You may do you as like... Regardless of what you do, the only place that your struggles will reach is h.e.l.l."

In response, smile spread across Sion"s face.

"Is that right?"

"Yes."

"In that case, let"s go already. Let"s start a revolution. Let"s stray from the scenario created by the worthless Hero, from the scenario formed by the disgusting G.o.ddesses, from the scenario written by the irritating Rahel Miller... and from here, I"ll begin writing my own scenario."

Saying that, he turned on his heel.

And in that moment—

Again, the landscape of the world changed.

Before his eyes, rather than anything unusual, the scene of a wooden dojo appeared.

And right by his side stood Ferris, who looked at him, as she, whose face was typically emotionless, looked slightly surprised.

"... W-What the—you. Just where did you appear from?"

In response, Sion looked around. As he thought, it wasn"t a place in the dungeon within the darkness that he"d been in up until now, but the Eris clan"s dojo.

With everything feeling as if it"d been nothing but a waking dream of his, as it all suddenly returned to normal, he felt a bit bewildered.

No, everything that happened just now—couldn"t it have been a dream? he vaguely thought.

But that guess disappeared as the pain struck. As pained that pierced through his body suddenly attacked, his worthless guess disappeared. Nausea strong enough to make him feel like he was going to vomit out his organs a.s.saulted him. His heard hurt to the point where it felt like it was going to explode. Discomfort, like poison was running through his bloodstream, crept at him.

"......"

Within him, Sion felt something clearly abnormal, again and again and again, trying to lure him, manipulate him, kill him, devour him.

So it really was reality? he thought at that.

So in reality, he really did make a deal with a demon? he thought.

Then, again,

"Hey, Sion. Just where did you appear from? That"s what I asked you,"

Ferris said.

Regarding that.

Regarding that question, Sion, while enduring the pain, looked at her.

While enduring the pain that was so severe that it was almost driving him to insanity, he looked at her, smiled, and,

"From a place a little like h.e.l.l, I guess."

"h.e.l.l?"

"Yeah."

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled at that.

"No, nothing. More importantly..."

After saying that, he looked around again. Then, in a soft voice,

"Hey, Lucile. You"re with me right now, aren"t you?"

In response,

"......"

There was no response.

However, without paying attention to that, Sion continued.

"... From now on, I"m going to subdue some needed talented for the revolution. I"m going to secure some needed talent in order to overthrow Miller"s plan. Will you help me?"

To that question as well,

"......"

Unsurprisingly, Lucile gave no answer, at which Sion shrugged.

"I see. So you won"t lend a hand in anything but monster extermination, huh?"

"......"

"Well, that"s fine. Can I borrow your sister, though?"

"......"

"Should I take that as a yes?"

Again, Lucile didn"t reply.

Sion frowned at that, and,

"No one likes a reticent fellow, you know,"

He said, at which point, suddenly by his ear,

"And no one likes a talkative fellow,"

A voice replied.

"......"

Sion laughed, killing the voice.

Then he looked at Ferris. She then looked at him with a puzzled expression, and

"What are you muttering about to yourself? It"s ominous,"

She said, to which Sion again laughed.

"Ah~, lately I"ve begun talking to myself a lot. I"m at that age, you know?"

"Is that so?"

"So it seems. Well, putting that aside... Mind if I borrow your company for a bit, Ferris? Though I"ll be wanting to borrow your a.s.sistance."

"Hmm. You can buy my a.s.sistance with one thousand dango sets."

"That many—!? How about five instead?"

"Nine thousand."

"No, why did that number increase... um, twelve?"

"Eight thousand and five hundred."

"Twenty."

"... T-Twenty!? Twenty is a lot... I-I mean, fine, I suppose that"ll do."

"Wow, that was surprisingly easy to reduce,"

Sion said, laughing.

At that,

"Then, where are we going?"

She asked, as he turned around.

He directed his eyes to beyond the dojo. As he expected, he sensed it. He felt it everywhere throughout the country.

The signs of beings that weren"t human.

The signs of his brothers, who had become the monsters that Lucile had called G.o.ddesses.

But Sion ignored those signs. Right now, it still wasn"t the right opportunity to kill them. No, Sion didn"t hold the power to change anything in the event that he killed them.

That was why he was going to obtain power.

He was going to obtain power for the sake of becoming a true hero for this country.

Sion left the dojo.

He stared at the Eris family"s garden, slowly being dyed a deep red as the sun was already starting to set, before a smile spread across his face as he spoke.

"... Just a short distance, to lure a red-haired lion."