According to Sertia, the Demon King and Iria are somehow connected.
And the Demon King and Iria are practically the same being, resembling each other in appearance, abilities, and even their physical makeup.
It didn’t feel like she was lying. Even without locking eyes, I wasn’t naive enough to miss the lies of someone in front of me.
Moreover, thinking from the premise that Sertia’s words are true, it made a lot of sense.
For instance, how there was no issue with consuming the Seed of the Demon King, or the outstanding innate physical abilities.
However, she too didn’t know how Iria and the Demon King were intertwined.
So, I wondered if the Demon King’s forces held that information.
I pictured Iria lying among the remnants of the Demon King’s minions. The Demon King and Iria. How were they connected with the remaining remnants?
I gained more from my meeting with Sertia than I anticipated.
I decided on my next destination: the base of the Demon King’s army.
*
I didn’t feel all that good about killing Sertia.
She was dead, and I was alive. It oddly left a hollow feeling inside me.
How would I express this feeling? She had become a monster in the end, but she was also a person. Perhaps, she was a monster more human than anyone else.
Endless emptiness? It felt a bit different than that. I felt completely detached from humanity.
I didn’t know what emotions Sertia held for me, but truly, I didn’t harbor any emotions towards her.
Except that she was strong and had a past as unfortunate as mine.
“I guess I’ve won.”
But perhaps it was because she vanished while provoking me until the end.
I felt a little knot in my stomach. I wanted to throw up.
I felt nothing on the emotional front, but that discomfort arose instead.
The life of a monster is pain. Pain is more terrifying than death, so I was receiving a harsher punishment than Sertia.
She won, and I lost.
The meaning of a single phrase struck all the bones in my body.
“… …”
Maybe the one most similar to me on this continent was her.
Sertia and I shared the same curse, were both human and monsters, and desired death over life.
In a sense, she might have been my kin. If that were the case, would I become the first to kill my kin? Now I didn’t even know what was what.
My body hurt, and I had lost so much blood that my mind was spinning.
“Ugh…”
This battle was dangerous.
It wasn’t life-threatening, but I nearly lost my sanity several times during it.
Maybe something akin to the Back Alley tragedy a year ago happened.
In the end, two monsters fought while not fully conscious—had Sertia fought with a bit more hatred, perhaps the Empire would have been destroyed because of it.
“What if Sertia had wished to become a monster in the end?”
At the very least, a more gruesome scene would have unfolded than now.
Even if death is rest and life is pain, accepting death when it confronts you is not an easy thing.
It might be rest, but an instinctive fear follows.
Yet, Sertia chose not to become a monster until the very end. That was truly surprising behavior to me.
She entrusted the choice to me, but the choice was not just mine.
If I wanted to, I could have embraced magical energy at any time and pierced myself. The fact that I didn’t do that is why I respected her.
She was similar yet different from me.
Unlike me, who became a monster and committed a massacre a year ago, Sertia did not.
“Good night.”
I said my farewell to the fallen hero of the past.
Sertia was stronger than I was, both body and mind. Even if I had met her 20 years earlier, I still felt I would have been the one truly ‘liberated.’
And after many long years, the former dean of the Academy seemed to radiate dignity, even in her last moments.
She left behind a parting message just before she breathed her last, having been stabbed by my sword.
“Please tell that child I’m sorry on my behalf.”
The child Sertia mentioned was only revealed to me after I read her memories.
It must refer to Ariel, the protagonist of the story and this generation’s hero.
What she felt sorry for was something I couldn’t know since I wasn’t Sertia, but I decided to pass it on. It wasn’t a difficult thing for me.
After finishing everything, I infused myself with the crimson magical energy. My whole body was drenched in blood and riddled with wounds.
If it had rained at a time like this, that would have been great, but the heavens never seem to care about my situation.
I stared at the now night sky.
On the land filled with my spilled blood and blazing flames, instead of rain, it felt as if starlight poured down.
After standing still for a while, I felt a presence behind me.
“… …Albert.”
Is he still alive?
I thought he had been buried under the rubble when the library collapsed.
Well, Sertia was indeed exclusive, but he was also a top-notch mage. He could probably look after himself to some extent.
He kept his head down and said nothing. Since he wore dark glasses, I couldn’t see his expression.
But I understood how he felt. While I now felt nothing but emptiness, I too was once human.
I asked him.
“Did you know it would end up like this from the very beginning?”
“… … She could never escape her fate of death. I didn’t predict this result, but I was mentally prepared. At least she didn’t end up being as ugly as the previous saintess.”
“Don’t you resent me?”
“If I said I had no such thoughts, I would be lying. Yes, I am resentful of you.”
Well, that was to be expected.
The murderer who killed another human asks the mage.
“Because you killed your master?”
“… …”
He answered my second question in silence.
A voiceless affirmation.
And…
“But I also know it was unavoidable. The curse of the Demon King was to turn my human master into something non-human.”
“Hmm.”
“Thank you for letting my master close her eyes as a human.”
He said that, hiding his emotions and trying to sound calm.
Though I could see through it perfectly. His breathing was erratic, and his heartbeat was irregular.
It was the complete opposite of the cold persona I usually saw. This guy has feelings, huh? It seems like one shouldn’t judge people based solely on their outward appearances.
“You heard our conversation earlier, right?”
I looked into his eyes.
In front of the thick magical energy spread all around, lies were impossible.
“They say I might be the Demon King. Just as Ariel might be the next hero, I could become the new Demon King.”
“I heard.”
“Then will you confront me? I could become the greatest calamity to humanity.”
He was essentially asking if he would fight me.
As the one who killed his master, I would be his enemy; it wouldn’t be strange for him to attack me right away.
He had every right to be angry with me.
I stood quietly, waiting for his response.
“… … Of course. You are the enemy of humanity.”
“…”
“But not right now. If we fought in the current situation, it would only add one more body to the pile.”
Just as I expected, he was composed.
There was no way he could stop me alone, especially since Sertia couldn’t even do that.
I didn’t feel like fighting either. Even if I looked like this, I was pretty exhausted. If I fought any longer, I would surely lose my sanity.
I didn’t want to cause another tragedy like a year ago.
“Then let’s agree to meet again. Prepare a bit better and come back when you think you can kill me.”
Right now, Albert wasn’t a match for me. Maybe things would be different in the future.
At this point, with Sertia gone, he was the most powerful mage in the Empire. I had some hopes for him.
He might not be as strong as Ariel, but he wouldn’t have gotten any weaker by the final point.
At least he might be able to catch my ankle.
I planned to avoid him from now on, so I wouldn’t run into him at the Academy anymore.
If we did meet, it would likely be the last day for one of us.
Before I left, I turned my head towards Albert.
“Please keep today a secret. You know better than anyone that antagonizing me while I’m quiet won’t yield any good for you.”
The Empire without Sertia was weak.
And the world I fell into was one where the law of the jungle prevailed.
Right now, I was stronger than all the combined forces of the Empire. I was the one in control now, and they were the subordinates.
He was a smart human, so I didn’t need to erase his memory.
“… … Someone must hold her funeral.”
I decided to entrust Sertia’s body to him.
Leaving her like that and letting someone discover her would cause more headaches.
Today my body smelled of disgusting blood.
Normally, blood has a sweet enough scent to make one dizzy, but perhaps it felt this way because it was my own.
Enduring the acrid smell, I headed back to where I originally belonged.
To the Back Alley of the Empire.
