NOVEL NEXT Chapter 225
Arpe said she would go down for a moment to prepare.
Retrieving the Holy Sword that was inserted into me and cutting off our connection, she descended into the underground.
“…This is my chance.”
An opportunity for escape.
I don’t know what Arpe is planning, but at least she has now given me a chance.
Run away if you can.
But be prepared for what comes after fleeing.
‘Is it dangerous?’
It’s dangerous.
I have an indescribable amount of mana flowing through my body right now.
Thanks to Arpe, my mana increased in an instant, making my mana pouch swell to the point where it feels a bit cramped when I walk.
I can’t leave now.
If I don’t leave now, I won’t be able to escape.
Whether by using magic or some other technique, I just have to run.
However.
Why can’t I easily jump out the window?
Why can’t I dash out into the hallway?
“…You know me too well.”
Arpe has been alive for 500 years.
And if her feelings for me are as true as she says, then she isn’t lying to me.
– I need to meet her.
One word from Arpe is tightening its grip on me.
The shackles of the Holy Sword are gone, and everything that constrains me has vanished, yet her words are holding me down.
“…Ha.”
If I were to spread my wings and fly away now, I would leave without confirming whether ‘she’ really exists as Arpe said.
If it’s a trap, then I’ve evaded it, and Arpe becomes my eternal enemy.
But what if it’s not a trap?
What if running away means I disregard the truth that Arpe has spoken?
What I’ve protected for 500 years could be shattered by Arpe’s hand.
Miserably.
“…Huh.”
It can’t be helped.
Even if I’m a demon race, at times, those who understand humans better than anyone else have to make unavoidable choices.
This is one of those times.
No matter what trap Arpe has laid, I have no choice but to fall into it.
Creak.
“I knew you would come out.”
Lily, the dark-haired maid who had been waiting for me outside, handed me a coat in a modest manner.
“This is….”
“It’s the robe that the Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor wore 500 years ago.”
“But it’s too large for my body right now.”
“I altered it to fit your current physique.”
If I must wear it, then wear it I shall.
I draped the black cloak that symbolizes the Demon Lord over my shoulders, its inside lined in vivid red.
“Where is Arpe?”
“I will guide you. Follow me.”
Lily, holding a candlestick, quietly walked ahead.
Her footsteps descending further were nothing short of maid-like, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit curious about her.
‘Something feels off.’
I couldn’t tell.
If I were facing Lily with only my mana, I would have figured her out immediately, but right now, my mana core is overflowing with the light mana Arpe gave me.
What I can sense is not the essence of the counterpart but merely the facade.
In this state, I was essentially indistinguishable from a clone.
“This way.”
Following the stairs down into the underground, I trailed behind Lily.
Both the stairs and the walls were entirely painted white.
Did Arpe dye this entire place white because it was pure white?
The sight was so overwhelming it felt like I might lose my sanity, but conversely, it seemed that anything other than pure white was strictly forbidden in this atmosphere.
Even.
“…A barrier?”
Occasionally, I felt an odd sensation as if something was gliding over my body.
The mana brushing against me resolved itself against my mana core, but feeling Arpe’s mana wrapped around it caused it to calm down.
Like.
– Young lady, this one is dangerous.
– Stop! They are trustworthy!
– …If that’s what you say, young lady.
It felt just like that.
“Is this a place that anyone can enter?”
“Only those with the Holy Sword may enter. Please come in this way.”
Lily held the candlestick and pointed ahead, and I swung open the firmly closed white door to the left and right.
Ding, ding, ding.
A church.
A shrine.
A cathedral.
It’s hard to describe precisely, but it resembled a ceremony hall blessed by the gods for a wedding.
Stained glass spread to the left and right, and between the spread chairs, Leberced Arpe, wearing a white wedding dress, stood.
“Was the ‘she’ you mentioned you?”
“No. This is just my preference?”
“…….”
“Once, she was called the Princess Knight. It’s not strange to dress like this, right?”
“That’s true.”
I cautiously approached.
“I thought you were trying to force me into a wedding ceremony here.”
“If you hadn’t come down immediately, I would’ve put a collar on you and held the ceremony right here. But since you came down trusting my words, I’ll let it go.”
“…I almost faced a huge problem if I had run away.”
“Then you wouldn’t be the ‘Bel’ I know. Bel would… do whatever it takes if someone she loves is in danger.”
Arpe reached out her hand to me, and I took her hand as we walked down the center of the red carpet.
At the end of the carpet was a considerable box.
It was adorned in lavish black with red linings, undoubtedly the ‘coffin’ of someone.
“Don’t be surprised when you see it.”
“You’re saying there’s something that would normally make me surprised?”
“Of course, it would be shocking, but I’m warning you in advance.”
With a flourish.
Arpe pulled back the red cloth that covered the coffin.
The lid was made of glass, and I was greeted by the sight of someone lying inside the coffin.
“…”
A red-haired woman.
Her long red hair flowing down to her waist.
She looked like a goddess who had descended from that red moon, sleeping in a white dress.
“How is it? Can you recognize who it is?”
“…No.”
It’s not a face I know.
It resembles someone I know, but I can confidently say it’s not her.
“It’s not Bel.”
The Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, it’s not Bel.
Not a visage I impersonated, nor the woman I cherished in my memories.
It resembles Bel, yet it’s not her.
I can stake my name, Belphegor, on this truth.
“It’s nothing more than a human body devoid of a soul. It’s a body that remains alive through the power of the Holy Sword you possess.”
“Don’t you feel anything?”
“…….”
Instinct tells me.
One possibility exists.
But if that’s true.
“…That can’t be. It shouldn’t be. For what reason have I protected this Intermediate Realm with my soul?”
“What are you thinking?”
“This child. My….”
Unknowingly.
I put strength into my hand that was hovering over the glass case.
“…That, the Red Moon Goddess, can’t be her, right?”
“No. The Red Moon Goddess is dead. Completely vanished.”
“Then what in the world is this?”
I couldn’t comprehend.
“…This red-haired woman, who is both a goddess and human, yet simultaneously a demon race—who is she?”
Others might not know.
But I can clearly see her essence.
“What is it?”
She possesses the divine factor.
Born of a human body.
Her roots are within the demon race.
Such a being should not exist.
She must not exist.
No.
“…She shouldn’t be like this.”
“Regretfully, yes.”
Arpe bowed her head deeply.
Soon, the glass case’s door opened, and I reached my hand inside.
“She’s alive, right? Huh? Tell me. This is a prank, right? You’re just kidding, right? Huh? It’s just a joke, or maybe you’re trying to give me a good scare with a fake body, right?”
“Don’t break down. Face reality.”
“Why did I protect this land!!”
This can’t be.
“Throw away the Holy Sword! Give up my Demon King Army! Even give up on you and risk my life and soul to protect this land—don’t you know what that is?!”
“…….”
“I know! It might sound cruel to you! But what was it that I sacrificed everything for, risking ‘myself’—Why do we meet like this…!!”
“I lived a long time. About 200 years. Look.”
Arpe pointed to the woman’s face.
“She left with a smile. Happily. In the end, she wished for your happiness.”
“…….”
“She was a strong child. A resolute child. In the world you protected, she lived happily as you wished.”
“…….”
She was happy.
She lived happily.
But I couldn’t watch that.
Because I was in the Demon World.
“…I thought she was dead.”
I protected the world for this child.
But I couldn’t protect her and her.
I fell into despair and hopelessness.
Against the Hero’s rampage.
Against the destruction of the world.
What I risked my life to protect wasn’t that damned world.
It was this child who would live happily in that world and her.
“…What about Bel?”
“She died after giving birth to a child. She left it to me. Because of the revenge of ‘that woman’, she couldn’t help but die.”
“……How?”
I couldn’t understand.
“If the Red Moon Goddess dies, then Bel should naturally…?”
“Well, perhaps her resolve as a mother overcame the will of the gods.”
“…….”
I still reached out towards the red-haired woman with a smile.
“I would’ve thought she would harbor resentment.”
“Oh, she resented plenty. When she was young. But then she looked around the world and came to understand the world her father had protected.”
“Is that so….”
“And it’s the Red Moon Goddess who is the villain here. Others might call her the Great Demon Lord, a name they shouldn’t even speak, but for this child, she was the hero who protected her.”
“…A Demon Lord is a hero?”
I reached out my hand towards the child.
“I’m sorry for being late. Saying this now is ridiculous, but.”
Gently stroking the cheek of the child who felt devoid of warmth.
“Thank you for being born. Thank you for living in this world that I so desperately protected for you. And.”
I offered my condolences for her mother.
“I love you. My daughter.”
The world.
Became blurry.