“It just means I need to conceive life.”
“W-what?!”
Suddenly, Belphegor turns beet red and panics.
He steps back, hiding his body with his arms, looking at me as if I were some degenerate.
What’s up with him all of a sudden?
‘No. Honestly, is it even possible?’
Easier said than done; it’s practically impossible. Creating life? That’s already in the realm of gods, not humans.
“If it gets to that point, I might as well be a creator. This proposal is rejected.”
“Ah…”
“What? What were you thinking?”
“I was wondering if you were considering something shameless…”
“Something shameless?”
After pondering for three seconds what that could even mean, I finally realized what Belphegor was talking about.
It was a completely different angle from what I was thinking.
“That’s just reproduction. I need to create ‘My Inner World,’ and that won’t do. That’s the inner world of a newborn child, not mine.”
“Can’t you just kill the baby and seize that world?”
“…”
“…”
I momentarily lost my words.
Conceiving a new life and then killing it to take its inner world…
What a truly demon-like thought; I was flustered.
“You can’t step outside a 50-meter radius without my permission. You can’t talk to anyone or touch them without my permission either.”
“W-what?! Why? Why on earth?!”
I absolutely can’t let Belphegor roam free.
Of course, being a coward by nature, he had never actually committed murder, but I couldn’t shake the unease.
Just in theory, he was already at an evil level that could rival the strongest in the world.
“But why do you still recognize me?”
“Huh?”
“Why do you still recognize me?”
“What nonsense are you spouting all of a sudden?”
“No…”
Only then did I realize.
I had destroyed my inner world, yet Belphegor still clearly recognized and remembered me.
Was I not the only one capable of being remembered?
“I beg your pardon. My name is—”
Unsure, I approached a nearby village to see if people could recognize me.
Would they remember or recognize me at all? And to what extent?
As a result of my inquiries,
People could recognize me, at least.
However, that was only when they didn’t know who I was.
From the moment my identity became somewhat clear, I was erased from their memories and became unrecognizable.
It’s obvious that if I say my name, I will be erased.
Even if I explain my achievements in Elvenguard and Cologne, if they guess my identity, I will be erased from their memory.
So what happens if I appear before people who can and can’t recognize me?
Both would lose the ability to recognize me.
While I was in the middle of a conversation, a person who couldn’t recognize me came in, making everyone else treat me as if I were invisible. Do you know that feeling?
It’s a horrendous feeling beyond imagination.
Rather than feeling lonely, it feels miserable.
If I feel this way when ignored by someone I don’t even know, how would it feel to be ignored by the heroines?
The ones who whispered that they loved me.
The ones I love dearly wouldn’t recognize me, treating me like a stranger, or not recognizing me at all, what would that feel like?
I don’t even want to imagine it.
That heart-wrenching experience was enough after 12 regressions.
I don’t want any more.
“But what are you really? How do you still remember me?”
“I… I don’t know! Even if you ask me like that…”
But it’s strange.
Belphegor knows my name and track record, yet how does he still remember me?
Is there some condition I don’t know about?
If so, could the heroines also remember me?
A flicker of hope surged through me.
Of course, that hope is…
“What happened?!”
“Well… Someone appeared and swept through the undead with an unusual mana…”
“Who was it? Who?!”
“Huh? Who was it? Uh? Uh, who was it again? I feel like I heard the name…”
“What’s going on? Does nobody remember that person’s name?”
“I heard it too, but it’s strangely… blurry…”
The moment I faced them, everything shattered.
“Yerina, can you not hear me? It’s me.”
“Ugh?!”
As I lightly touched her shoulder, Yerina gasped in shock and grasped her sword.
She looked around in confusion.
It seems she felt something, but couldn’t recognize me.
So those who know my face have been unable to recognize me from the start…
I expected that but still felt drained by the response.
‘I need to recover my existence as soon as possible.’
The reality is that there’s not even a clue yet.
According to the god of the underworld, creating a new inner world is not impossible.
There was also the method Belphegor mentioned, but…
‘Seize someone else’s world? How is that not murder?’
That won’t do.
It’s not just that I don’t want to; it simply cannot happen.
I won’t even consider it as my absolute last resort.
The moment I choose such a path, I stop being human.
I intend to remain human forever.
I have no desire to become a grotesque monster.
I’d rather die.
If it comes to becoming a monster, I’d give up everything.
That’s my resolution.
After repeating 12 regressions, I’ve learned what’s most important.
|That bastard|
“…”
The magic sword in my hand murmured.
When I first pulled it from the stone tablet, it was so noisy that it felt like ten years had passed since it began whining about how lonely and hard it was being trapped in stone.
After petting it for a while, it seemed to calm down and spoke in a calm voice.
“I feel weird… Is this really me? I mean, was I a part of you?”
“That’s right. It was born from your demonic energy. In a way, you could call it your offspring.”
“…Ugh.”
|I can’t accept this. The crazy great demon causing havoc in this world, Belphegor, as my mother?!|
Both sides rejected it in shock.
It was the moment the bond between parent and child broke.
I paused for a moment, holding the magic sword and reflecting on it, leading me to this thought.
“What if I absorb Belphegor into the magic sword?”
|Oh! Then I won’t be lonely anymore!|
“Th-that’s…! No way. Please. I beg you, okay? Please don’t melt me into the sword… I really don’t want to be trapped somewhere again… sniff…”
Belphegor clung to my pant leg and cried.
I didn’t say anything, yet she was spiraling into a paranoia of her own.
Still, if she willingly offers to stay within the magic sword, I won’t refuse.
“Okay, then step in.”
“Ugh, sniff…”
As I pulled out the magic sword and handed it to her, she grasped it and closed her eyes.
Then Belphegor suddenly opened her eyes wide, shocked.
In an instant, her body transformed into magic and was sucked into the magic sword.
“Umm…?”
But something felt off inside.
I thought since the magic sword was the main body and Belphegor would just enter it for a while, there wouldn’t be any issues.
As soon as the magic sword and the transformed Belphegor touched each other, they twisted and repelled in chaos.
“Hey, hey!”
“Whoa! A whirlwind, a sword!”
The shape twisted, the magic sword span wildly.
I tried to suppress the situation in panic, but it was impossible.
It showed signs of rampaging as if it were about to pierce the sky.
Fortunately, it quickly calmed down and gradually returned to its original form.
Once again, when it had regained the shape of the sword and stabilized, a voice whined from the inside.
But this isn’t…
Not the voice of the magic sword?
|I won!|
“What…?”
“I said I won!”
Whoosh.
Suddenly, the magic sword melted away and swiftly transformed into a black-skinned woman who shouted.
Stunned, I went speechless.
“Return.”
“Huh?!”
As I softly commanded, the magic sword shape returned, re-appearing in my hand—no, it was Belphegor.
Upon close inspection, the aura of the magic sword had indeed changed.
The signs of the magic sword, which had merely been a part of Belphegor, vanished completely.
It felt as if I were holding Belphegor right in my hands.
“Did I kill the magic sword?”
|K-killing it? That’s a mistake! I merely wanted to check if I could enter!|
It seems the magic sword has absorbed Belphegor.
That definitely wasn’t in my plans.
Somehow, I’ve ended up acquiring an Ego Sword (royal title).
